&he(jrimecftAeianei  Nichol 


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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 

GIFT  OF 

Kate  Gordon  Moore 


N 


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^^^^^t^2«r-^  ^^c^zTe^ 


4^ijUU^ 


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k, 


The  Cruise  of  the  "Janet  Nichol 


Mr.  aiui  Mr..  Rohrrt  J.oui.\  Sli:,iison  on  ihr  briilur  of  I  he  "Janet  NkhoV 


The  Cruise  of  the 
"Janet  Nichol" 

Among  the 

South  Sea  Islands 


A  Diary  by 
Mrs.  Robert  Louis  Stevenson 


New  York 

Charles  Scribner*s  Sons 

1914 


Copyright,  1914.  by 
Charles  Scribner's  Sons 


Published  October,  1914 


PREFACE 

It  is  always  necessary  to  make  certain  elisions 
in  a  diary  not  meant  for  publication  at  the  time 
of  writing.  For  many  reasons  ''The  Cruise  of  the 
Janet  Nichol"  has  been  pruned  rather  severely. 
It  was,  originally,  only  intended  to  be  a  collec- 
tion of  hints  to  help  my  husband's  memory  where 
his  own  diary  had  fallen  in  arrears;  consequently, 
it  frequently  happened  that  incidents  given  in  my 
diary  were  re-written  (to  their  great  betterment), 
amplified,  and  used  in  his.  I  have  deleted  these  as 
far  as  possible,  though  not  always  completely; 
also  things  pertaining  to  the  private  affairs  of 
other  persons,  and,  naturally,  our  own.  I  fear  the 
allusions  to  the  Devil  Box  may  seem  obscure.  It 
happened  that  my  husband  wrote  a  complete  de- 
scription of  the  purchase  of  the  Devil  Box  in 
his  own  diary,  so  it  seemed  necessary  for  me  to 
note  further  references  to  it,  but  nothing  more. 
In  the  minute  description,  almost  like  a  catalogue, 
of  the  articles  in  the  different  buildings  in  the 
island  of  Suwarrow,  I  must  appear  to  have  gone 
to  the  opposite  extreme.  At  that  time  my  husband 

[v] 


8620D7 


Preface 

had  an  idea  of  writing  a  South  Sea  island  romance 
where  he  might  wish  to  use  such  pathetic  and 
tragic  flotsam  and  jetsam  from  wrecked  ships  and 
wrecked  Hves.  At  the  risk  of  tedium  I  have  let  it 
stand,  hoping  that  some  one  else  may  see  the  in- 
tangible things  I  beheld. 

One  reason  I  have  hesitated  a  little  to  give  for 
publishing  this  diary,  is  the  extraordinary  num- 
ber of  books  now  being  printed  purporting  to 
give  accurate  accounts  of  our  lives  on  board  ship 
and  elsewhere,  by  persons  with  whom  we  were 
very  slightly  acquainted,  or  had  never  consciously 
met.  I  have  read,  among  other  misstatements,  of 
the  making  of  the  flag  for  Tembinoka,  by  the 
writer  and  my  daughter  on  the  beach  at  Apemama. 
The  flag  was  designed  by  me,  on  board  the  schooner 
EquatOTy  and  made,  in  the  most  prosaic  manner, 
by  a  firm  in  Sydney.  No  one,  outside  our  immediate 
family,  sailed  with  us  on  any  of  our  cruises.  All 
the  books  *'With  Stevenson"  here,  and  "With 
Stevenson"  there,  are  manufactured  out  of  "such 
stuff  as  dreams  are  made  on,"  and  false  in  almost 
every  particular.  Contrary  to  the  general  idea, 
my  husband  was  a  man  of  few  intimate  friends, 
and  even  with  these  he  was  reticent  to  a  degree. 

This  diary  was  written  under  the  most  adverse 
conditions — sometimes   on   the   damp,    upturned 

[vi] 


Prefa  ce 

bottom  of  a  canoe  or  whaleboat,  sometimes  when 
lying  face  down  on  the  burning  sands  of  the 
tropic  beach,  often  in  copra  sheds  in  the  midst 
of  a  pandemonium  of  noise  and  confusion,  but 
oftener  on  board  the  rolHng  Janet  (whose  pet 
name  was  the  Jumping  Jenny)  to  the  accompani- 
ment of  "Tin  Jack's"  incessant  and  inconsequent 
conversation — but  never  in  comfortable  surround- 
ings. For  such  inadequate  results  the  labour  re- 
quired was  tremendously  out  of  proportion,  giv- 
ing my  diary  a  sort  of  fictitious  value  in  the  eyes 
of  my  husband,  who  wished  to  save  it  from  obliv- 
ion by  publication.  The  little  book,  however  dull 
it  may  seem  to  others,  can  boast  of  at  least  one 
reader,  for  I  have  gone  over  this  record  of  perhaps 
the  happiest  period  of  my  life  with  thrilling  in- 
terest. 

Fanny  V.  de  G.  Stevenson. 


[vii] 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robert  Louis  Stevenson  on  the  bridge  of 
the  Janet  Nichol Frontispiece 

FACING  PAGE 

Map  to  illustrate  the  cruise  of  the  Janet  Nichol, 
April  nth-July  25th,  1890 I 

Outside  of  the  great  dance-house,  Butaritari,  during 
the  competition  between  the  dancers  of  Butaritari 
and  those  of  Little  Makin 2 

Maka  and  Mary  Maka,  Kanoa  and  Mrs.  Maria  Kanoa, 
Hawaiian  missionaries  of  the  American  Board  of 
Missions,  Honolulu,  on  the  Island  of  Butaritari,  one 
of  the  Gilbert  Islands 4 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stevenson  in  company  with  Nan  Tok 
and  Natakanti  on  Butaritari  Island 6 

The  Janet  Nichol  with  ship's  company 20 

The  King  of  Manihiki  in  the  centre,  with  the  island 

judge  on  his  right  and  Tin  Jack,  seated,  on  his  left        40 

Natives  dancing 48 

Penrhyn  Island   . 52 

Figurehead  from  a  wrecked  ship  on  the  veranda  of  the 
white  trader's  house,  Penrhyn  Island 56 

The  Janet  Nichol  at  anchor  off  Penrhyn  Island     ...       64 

View  of  deserted  buildings  on  Suwarrow  Island.  The 
man  seated  in  the  centre  is  Tin  Jack 74 

[ix] 


Illustrations 


FACING  PAGE 

The  settlement  on  Nassau  Island 78 

Missionary  from  a  civilized  island,   and  some  of  her 

converts 80 

Native  boys  setting  sail  on  S.  S.  Janet  Nichol  ....  96 

Tom  Day — a  trader  of  Noukanau  Island 120 

"Equator  Town,"  showing  corner  of  the  sleeping-house, 

and  cook-house 128 

"The   Baron  and   Baroness,"    Butaritari,  one  of  the 

Gilbert  Islands 132 

Interior  of  the  moniop  of  Tembinoka's  harem      .     .     .  136 

A  Marshall  Island  canoe 140 

Speak  House,  Island  of  Maraki 144 

White  trader  and  his  wife  "Topsy,"  Majuro  Island  .     .  152 

Kaibuke — one  of  the  kings  of  Majuro 158 

Harem  and  little  son  of  King  Tembinoka  on  board  the 

Janet  Nichol  passing  from  Aranuka  to  Apemama  .     .  162 

Dance  at  Apemama 166 


[x] 


The  Cruise  of  the  "Janet  Nichol 


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1 

THE    CRUISE    OF    THE 
**JANET    NICHOL^' 

The  Janet  Nichol  was  an  iron-screw  cargo 
boat,  topsail  schooner  rigged,  of  some  six  hun- 
dred tons  gross.  Her  large,  airy  saloon  and  cabins 
were  placed  amidship  on  the  main  deck,  with 
ports  opening  forward,  the  ''trade  room"  being 
at  the  extreme  aft.  There  was  a  comfortable 
bathroom  and  space  enough  on  deck  for  exercise; 
but,  for  that  matter,  we  might  walk,  sit,  or  sleep 
where  we  would.  I  have  slept  in  the  chart  room 
and  on  the  platform  of  the  captain's  bridge; 
though  the  after  hatch,  over  which  a  great  awn- 
ing was  spread,  was  the  place  chosen  b}^  the  most 
of  us  for  permanent  night  quarters.  Here  some 
swung  in  hammocks,  some  lay  on  mats,  while  the 
more  luxurious  carried  blankets  and  pillows  back 
and  forth  each  night  and  morning.  For  me  four 
mats  were  hung  in  a  square;  the  mats,  being 
loosely  woven,  did  not  cut  off  the  current  of  air 
that  usually  swept  over  the  hatch  nor,  unfortu- 
nately, the  terrible  groans  of  one  of  the  mates  who 
slept  near  me  and  was  subject  to  nightmares. 

[I] 


The    Cruise    of 

Our  mess  consisted  of  Mr.  Henderson,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  company  that  owned  the  vessel;  Cap- 
tain Henry,  saihng-master;  Mr.  Hird,  supercargo; 
Mr.  Stoddard,  engineer;  Mr.  Buckland,  commonly 
called  Tin  Jack  (Tin  being  the  island  equivalent 
for  Mr.),  a  trader  of  the  company  returning  to 
his  station,  my  husband,  my  son  Lloyd,  and 
myself.  The  Janet  carried  a  crew  of  about  nine 
white  men  and  some  forty-odd  black  boys  from 
the  different  islands  of  the  Solomons  and  the 
New  Hebrides. 

We  left  Sydney  on  the  nth  of  April  with  a 
head  wind  and  heavy  seas  until  we  arrived  at 
Auckland,  making  seven  days  from  port  to  port. 

April  iSth,  1890. — At  Auckland  in  time  for 
dinner.  Went  on  shore  and  dined  at  a  hotel  with 
the  supercargo  and  Tin  Jack.  Louis  and  I  slept 
at  the  hotel  with  the  understanding  that  Tin 
Jack  and  Lloyd  should  meet  us  in  the  morning 
with  a  shopping  list.  Immediately  on  our  arrival 
in  Auckland  a  strange  cat  jumped  through  a 
port-hole  and  now  remains  on  board. 

19^/1. — Bought  a  broadcloth  coat  for  Maka 
and  a  good  black  silk  dress  for  Mary.  As  the 
Janet  was  bound  for  "the  South  Seas"  and 
nothing   more   definite,   we  thought  it   better  to 


the    ^^ Janet    Nichol** 

carry  presents  in  case  we  found  ourselves  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Butaritari.^  I  came  back  to 
the  hotel  in  advance  of  Tin  Jack  and  Lloyd,  who 
stopped  to  buy  fireworks  for  the  entertainment 
of  Tin  Jack's  native  retainers.  Besides  the  fire- 
works, which  included  ten  pounds  of  "calcium 
fire,"  Tin  Jack  has  also  purchased  cartridges, 
grease-paints,  a  false  nose,  and  a  wig. 

*  We  had  met  the  Hawaiian  missionary  Maka  and 
his  wife  Mary  on  our  second  South  Sea  cruise  at  Bu- 
taritari,  one  of  the  low  islands  belonging  to  the  Kings- 
mill  group.  Maka  and  his  wife  being  away  at  the  time, 
by  the  advice  of  the  resident  trader  we  had  burglari- 
ously entered  and  taken  possession  of  the  missionaries' 
comfortable  little  wooden  house,  where  we  made  our- 
selves at  home  while  we  complacently  awaited  the  ar- 
rival of  our  involuntary  host.  Having  thus  identified 
ourselves  with  the  missionary  party,  and  laid  ourselves 
under  such  heavy  obligations  to  them,  we  felt  bound 
to  forego  many  amusements  and  friendships,  other- 
wise interesting,  that  would  have  been  objectionable  to 
Maka.  However,  during  the  time  of  the  great  festival, 
when  the  neighbouring  islanders  of  Little  Makin  (called 
by  the  traders  "Little  Muggin")  came  over,  in  answer 
to  a  challenge  from  the  Butaritaris  to  dance  against 
them  for  what  sportsmen  would  call  "the  champion- 
ship," Maka  retired  into  discreet  obscurity,  giving  us 
an  opportunity  to  become  acquainted  with  the  King  of 
Little  Makin  and  to  attend  the  heathen  dances.  But 
Maka  and  Mary  remained  our  most  real  friends  in 
spite   of  our   momentary    defection    toward    Makin. 

[3] 


The    Cruise    of 

Lloyd  was  a  little  doubtful  about  the  calcium 
fire  and  questioned  the  man  at  the  chemist  shop 
rather  closely,  particularly  as  to  its  inflamma- 
bility, explaining  that  it  was  to  be  carried  on 
board  ship.  The  man  declared  that  it  was  per- 
fectly safe,  "as  safe,"  said  he,  "as  a  packet  of 
sugar,"  adding  that  fire  from  a  match  would  not 

When  we  left  Butaritari  we  could  find  nothing  suitable 
to  offer  them  as  parting  gifts,  in  the  island  fashion,  and 
to  show  our  gratitude  for  their  many  almost  over- 
whelming kindnesses;  hence  the  silk  dress  and  clergy- 
man's frock  coat.  Two  other  friends,  consistent  con- 
verts to  Christianity,  to  whom  we  also  carried  presents, 
we  left  behind  us  with  regret,  Nan  Tok  and  his  wife; 
but  they  were  of  a  different  sort  from  Maka  and  Mary, 
being  natives  of  Butaritari  and,  from  Maka's  point  of 
view,  quite  uncivilised,  as,  in  ordinary  life  the  lady 
(there  are  only  ladies  in  the  South  Seas,  woman  being 
a  word  that  is  tapu  in  all  society,  high  or  low),  a  rich, 
high  chief  woman,  wore  the  ridi  only,  while  for  full 
dress  she  appeared  in  a  white  chemise  fresh  from  the 
trader's  shelves  with  the  marks  where  it  had  been 
folded  still  showing.  My  first  meeting  with  Nan  Tok 
and  his  wife  was  rather  alarming.  The  King  had  raised 
the  tapu  from  drink,  consequently,  the  entire  island, 
including  his  dull  majesty,  was  wildly  drunk  on  "  sour 
toddy"  (the  fermented  sap  of  the  flower-stalk  of  the 
cocoanut),  which  is  the  most  dangerous  intoxicant  in 
the  world,  as  it  incites  in  its  users  a  frenzied  desire 
to  shed  blood.  During  this  period  of  licence  I  acci- 
dentally came  upon  two  women  fighting  together  like 

[4l 


s  <^ 


^ 


k 


the    ^^Janet    Nichol" 

be  sufficient  to  ignite  it.  "Will  you  have  it  with 
or  without  fumes?"  he  asked  as  he  turned  to 
make  up  the  parcel.  The  thrifty  trader  thought 
that  he  might  as  well  get  all  he  could  for  the  money 
expended,  therefore  took  it  with  fumes. 

On  Board  in  the  Afternoon. — A  little  trouble 
with  the  trades-union,  but  nothing  serious.  Mr. 

wild  beasts,  their  teeth  sunk  into  each  other's  faces, 
which  were  streaming  blood.  "Oh,  what  is  the  mat- 
ter?" I  cried.  "Sour  toddy,"  replied  the  woman  to 
whom  I  spoke,  casting  a  contemptuous  glance  over 
her  shoulder  as  she  passed  on. 

In  the  circumstances  it  was  thought  unsafe  for  me 
to  leave  our  own  small  premises,  but  one  quiet  after- 
noon I  broke  bounds  and  went  over  to  the  weather 
side  of  the  island  to  hunt  for  shells.  Here  a  strange 
man  and  woman  joined  me;  they  were  not  reassuring 
companions,  judging  from  outer  appearances,  as  they 
were  unkempt,  clad  in  nothing  but  a  small  fragment, 
each,  of  dirty,  old  gunny  sack,  and  their  faces  were 
haggard  and  anxious.  At  first  they  walked  with  me  as 
I  went  about  my  business  of  gathering  shells,  but 
presently,  seeming  to  tire  of  this  amusement,  they 
began  to  crowd  me  off  the  beach  toward  the  land; 
then  seizing  me  by  the  arms,  one  on  either  side,  they 
boldly  marched  me  into  a  narrow,  crooked  path  that 
led  through  the  clustering  cocoanut-trees  with  which 
the  island  was  heavily  wooded.  As  I  reluctantly  moved 
along  beside  my  captors,  the  lady,  evidently  with  a 
kindly  feeling  for  my  comfort,  drew  a  clay  pipe  from 
out  an  enormous  hole  in  her  ear,  stuffed  it  with  strong, 

[5] 


The    Cruise    of 

W ,  a  bookseller,  who  had   recognised  Louis 

from  a  published  portrait,  called  in  the  evening. 
He  kindly  offered  to  get  pistol  cartridges  for  us, 
and  after  a  few  minutes'  conversation  ran  away 
after  them,  returning  just  as  we  were  about  to 
leave,    with    a    couple    hundred    or    thereabouts. 

coarse  tobacco,  lighted  it,  puffed  a  moment,  and  then 
placed  it  in  my  mouth.  As  I  could  not  guess  whether 
their  intentions  were  hostile  or  othenvise  and  all  the 
warnings  I  had  received  flashed  through  my  mind,  with 
sublime  courage  I  accepted  the  situation.  But  it  was  a 
solemn  experience.  We  emerged  from  the  palms  to 
find  the  town  in  a  turbulent  uproar,  the  street  in  front 
of  our  house  filled  with  a  howling,  fighting,  drunken 
mob.  It  was  a  great  relief  to  find  we  were  just  in  front 
of  my  own  door;  the  two  natives  held  me  fast  until 
we  were  safely  on  the  little  veranda,  when,  to  my 
astonishment,  the  man  fell  on  his  knees  and  offered  up 
a  fervent  prayer. 

So  began  our  friendship  with  Nan  Tok  and  his  wife 
(my  husband  always  called  them  the  "baron  and 
baroness").  They  told  us  afterward  with  what  anx- 
iety they  had  watched  me  wander  through  the  woods 
alone;  then  how,  after  a  heated  argument  as  to  the 
proper  means  to  pursue,  they  concluded  to  force  me 
back  to  safety.  The  incident  of  the  pipe  was  an  at- 
tempt to  conciliate  me  because  of  a  supposed  fiery 
gleam  in  my  eyes  that  disconcerted  them.  The  prayer 
was  one  of  thanks  for  the  outcome  of  their  adventure 
and  a  petition  that  this  should  prove  the  beginning  of 
a  new  friendship  that  should  be  blessed  to  us  all. 

•  ••••••• 

[6] 


the    ^^  Janet    Nichol'* 

The  fireworks  were  sent  aboard  with  other  par- 
cels, and,  having  no  distinguishing  marks,  Lloyd 
put  them  all,  along  with  our  cartridges,  on  his 
bunk  until  Tin  Jack,  whose  cabin  he  shared, 
should  come  below  and  sort  them  out.  Among 
them  should  be  a  pistol  Tin  Jack  had  taken  to 
have  mended,  belonging  to  Louis. 

20th. — We  left  Auckland  last  evening  at  about 
eight,  the  streaming  lights  from  the  town  follow- 
ing us  a  long  way.  A  small,  half-grown  dog  has 
joined  the  ship's  company. 

Between  ten  and  eleven  Louis  was  lying  in  his 
cabin  very  tired  and  glad  to  rest.  Tin  Jack  and 
Lloyd  were  in  Mr.  Henderson's  cabin  drinking 
coffee  and  discussing  "land  booms."  I  sat  at  the 
saloon  table  eating  brown  bread  and  butter. 
Suddenly,  from  the  cabin  occupied  by  Tin  Jack 
and  Lloyd,  came  a  spitting  puff,  almost  immedi- 
ately followed  by  gorgeous  flames  and  the  most 
horrible  chemical  stench.  The  calcium  fire  that 
was  as  safe  as  a  packet  of  sugar  had  gone  off  and 
ignited  the  rest  of  the  fireworks.  Only  Lloyd  and 
I  knew  of  the  cartridges  in  their  midst,  but  we 
discreetly  held  our  tongues,  though  every  moment 
we  expected  to  hear  the  ping  of  flying  bullets.  I 
ran  into  our  cabin  and  snatched  a  heavy  red 
blanket.  At  the  same  time  Mr.  Henderson  was 

[7] 


The    Cruise    of 

fetching  a  large,  handsome  woollen  rug  from  his 
cabin.  I  felt  for  a  hand  to  put  the  blanket  in,  for 
the  place  was  so  full  of  suffocating  vapour  that 
one  could  see  nothing  but  the  many-hued  flames 
darting  through  it.  Fortunately,  it  was  the  cap- 
tain's hand  I  delivered  my  blanket  into.  Rid  of 
my  blanket,  I  ran  back  and  thrust  my  head  out 
of  a  port  to  get  a  breath  of  air;  the  ports,  although 
they  were  the  means  of  fanning  the  flames,  could 
not  be  shut  on  account  of  the  strangling  fumes. 
Here  Mr.  Henderson,  who  had  been  for  some  min- 
utes lying  on  the  stairs  quite  insensible,  came  to 
fetch  me  out;  so,  catching  his  hand,  I  ran  through 
the  saloon  to  the  companionway  and  up  to  the 
deck. 

Louis,  who  knew  nothing  of  the  fireworks  hav- 
ing been  brought  on  board,  was  thunderstruck  by 
the  vivid  changing  colours  of  the  spouts  of  flame, 
and  stood  for  some  time  gazing  at  the  extraor- 
dinary scene  and  inhaling  the  poisonous  vapours. 
"Why,"  he  thought  with  wonder,  "should  a  fire 
at  sea  look  Hke  a  Christmas  pantomime?"  His 
amazement  was  so  great  that  he  was  hardly  con- 
scious of  the  fumes. 

The  captain,  from  the  bridge,  had  seen  heavy 
vapour  pouring  upward  and  was  both  puzzled 
and  angry,  thinking  the  engineer  was  letting  oflF 

[8] 


the    ''Janet   Nichol'* 

steam  for  purposes  of  his  own.  The  stuff  must, 
therefore,  have  been  smouldering  for  a  consider- 
able time  before  it  burst  into  flames,  the  draught 
carrying  the  smoke  out  of  the  open  port  instead 
of  into  the  saloon,  so  that  our  first  knowledge  of 
anything  amiss  came  from  the  bursting  of  rockets 
into  the  saloon.  As  the  captain  was  looking  at  the 
supposed  column  of  steam  there  suddenly  shot 
through  it,  rising  high  into  the  air,  a  shaft  of  blue, 
green,  and  red  fire.  Ordering  the  donkey-engine 
to  pump  water  and  the  hose  to  be  put  on,  he  ran 
below  and  crawled  into  the  very  centre  of  the  fire 
with  the  blanket,  rug,  and  hose,  and  succeeded  in 
smothering  the  flames  none  too  soon  for  the  safety 
of  the  ship;  he  said  afterward  that  had  the  wind 
come  from  a  different  quarter,  or  had  the  car- 
tridges exploded,  nothing  could  have  saved  us. 

There  was  no  panic  among  our  black  boys,  who 
worked  swiftly  and  obediently;  I  rather  suspect 
they  enjoyed  the  excitement  of  the  affair.  Talk- 
ing it  over,  the  captain  said  how  lucky  it  was  that 
he  had  a  man  at  the  wheel  that  he  could  trust. 
Lloyd  and  I  said  nothing,  but  we  both  knew 
there  had  been  no  man  at  the  wheel;  the  trusted 
one  ran  below  with  the  rest.  It  was  a  rather  danger- 
ous moment  to  leave  the  ship  drifting,  for  we  were 
not  nearly  out  of  the  harbour,  being  just  opposite 

[9l 


The    Cruise    of 

the  lighthouse  when  the  fire  broke  out.  A  steamer 
passed  us  quite  closely  when  the  scene  was  at  its 
wildest.  Coloured  fire  and  thick  white  vapour 
belching  from  our  ports  must  have  given  us  a 
very  strange  and  alarming  aspect.  Lloyd  looked 
over  the  opposite  side  of  our  ship  and  saw  the 
ports  there,  also,  vomiting  vapour  like  a  factory. 
To  our  surprise  the  cartridge-boxes  were  only 
slightly  scorched.  Our  personal  loss,  however,  has 
been  very  severe.  About  ninety  photographs  were 
destroyed  and  all  of  Lloyd's  clothes  except  those 
on  his  back.  Neither  he  nor  I  have  even  a 
tooth-brush  left.  The  annoying  thing  is  that  Tin 
Jack  has  lost  nothing  whatever.  Lloyd  is  very 
bitter  about  the  discrimination  shown  in  the  mat- 
ter of  trousers  by  the  fire.  I  stopped  a  couple  of 
black  boys  just  in  time  to  prevent  them  throw- 
ing overboard  a  blazing  valise  containing  four 
large  boxes  of  Louis'  papers.  A  black  bag,  its  con- 
tents at  present  unknown.  Is  burned,  and  innu- 
merable small  necessaries  that  conduce  to  comfort 
on  shipboard  are  lost.  I  have  ever  since  been  in 
a  tremor  lest  Louis  have  a  haemorrhage.  If  he 
does  I  shall  feel  inclined  to  do  something  very  des- 
perate to  the  chemist,  who,  for  the  sake  of  a  few 
shillings,  put  us  all  in  such  deadly  peril.  A  horrid 
smell  still  hangs  about  the  place  and  every  one 

[lo] 


the    ^^ Janet    Nichol'' 

feels  ill.  Though  I  hardly  breathed  in  the  room,  I 
have  a  heavy  oppression  on  my  chest,  and  my 
throat  and  lungs  burn  as  though  I  were  inhaling 
pepper.  From  the  time  we  left  Auckland  the  water 
has  been  as  smooth  as  glass,  and  there  has  been 
no  jarring  or  knocking  about;  the  stuff  must 
have  gone  off  by  simple  spontaneous  combustion. 
Had  it  taken  place  a  very  little  later,  Tin  Jack 
must  have  been  sleeping  in  the  berth  above,  and 
should  undoubtedly  have  been  suffocated. 

2ist. — Still  drying  the  remains  of  Lloyd's  clothes, 
burned  and  wet  in  the  fire,  and  discovering  more 
and  more  losses.  Fortunately,  the  flag  I  had  made 
for  King  Tembinoka  was  not  injured  at  all  (a 
royal  standard  I  invented  for  him).  The  flag  for 
the  island  I  had  already  sent,  and  the  cartridge- 
belt  Lloyd  is  taking  to  him  for  a  present  is  only 
a  little  smudged.^  Both  our  cameras  escaped  as 
by  magic. 

^  This  flag  was  designed  on  a  former  cruise  after  we 
had  left  Apemama,  the  principal  of  the  three  islands 
comprising  the  group  under  King  Tembinoka,  the  last 
of  the  absolute  monarchs  of  the  South  Seas.  The 
King  had  asked  that  we  send  him  a  flag,  so  one  evening, 
on  board  the  schooner  Equator,  we  each  drew  and  col- 
oured a  flag.  These  were  voted  on  by  the  ship's 
company.  It  happened  that  mine  was  unanimously 
chosen.  The  three  cross-bars,  red,  yellow,  and  green, 

[n] 


The    Cruise    of 

Louis  has  been  playing  chess  with  the  captain, 
who  has  not  played  before  for  many  years.  I  have 
been  making  wreaths  of  artificial  flowers  for  pres- 
ents to  the  natives.  I  bought  in  Sydney  several 
large  boxes  of  old-fashioned  artificial  flowers,  per- 
fectly fresh  and  pretty,  also  green  leaves  unwired. 
For  one  pound  and  three  shillings  I  got  enough 
for  twenty  full  wreaths  and  eighteen  more  to  be 
worked  up  with  coloured  feathers.  I  do  not  think 
the  natives  will  enjoy  getting  the  wreaths  any 
more  than  I  enjoy  making  them.^    (One   of  our 

were  intended  to  stand  for  the  three  islands,  while 
the  black  shark  lying  across  the  bars  was  meant  to 
be  typical  of  Tembinoka's  ancestry.  The  King's  line 
was  not  lost  in  obscurity;  he  gave  us  almost  embarassing 
details,  of  the  first  of  his  forebears,  who  sprang  from  a 
liaison  between  a  beautiful  lady  and  a  shark.  The  draw- 
ings I  made  on  the  Equator  were  taken  to  a  firm  in 
Sydney  that  did  such  work;  they  turned  out  a  couple 
of  very  gorgeous  flags  that  were  quite  to  the  taste  of 
his  majesty.  The  house  flag  had  a  white  crown  over 
the  head  of  the  shark  (a  little  diff'erent  shape  from  that 
on  the  island  flag).  I  chose  for  the  motto  "I  bite 
triply,"  which  referred  not  only  to  the  King's  three 
islands,  but  to  the  three  rows  of  teeth  peculiar  to  the 
shark. 

-  Very  few  flowers  are  found  in  the  atolls,  wherefore 
the  natives,  who  use  wreaths  for  every  festive  occasion, 
are  forced  to  devise  all  sorts  of  makeshifts  for  the  gar- 
lands that  are  considered  almost  necessities.   I  have 

[12] 


the    ^ '  J  an  et    N  ich  ol  *  * 

sailors  appeared  on  duty  in  a  garland  and  neck- 
lace of  orange-peel.)  The  sea  is  smooth  and  the 
weather  perfect. 

22d. — The  weather  still  lovely.  Saw  a  small 
island  called  Curtis  Island,  and  at  half  past  ten 
sighted  Sunday  Island.  The  captain  kindly  took 
us  very  close  in  that  we  might  get  a  good  photo- 
graph. A  puff  of  smoke  appeared  on  the  horizon, 
supposed  to  be  a  steamer;  great  excitement.  I 
ran  to  write  letters  and  found  Mr.  Henderson  do- 
ing the  same;  but  alas,  the  ship,  which  looked  like 
a  man-of-war,  moved  away  from  us  nearer  to  the 
island,  and  it  was  too  late  to  venture  to  chase 
her,  so  our  letters  must  wait.  Sunday  is  the  island 
where   an   American   family  once   took   up   their 

seen  only  two  flowers  that  seem  indigenous  to  the  true 
atoll,  one  quite  insignificant,  that  looked  like  the 
blossom  of  the  xndXe.  papaia,  the  other  a  sort  of  "spider 
lily";  both  these  were  of  a  whitish  colour,  and,  as  far 
as  I  could  see,  were  worn  only  by  people  of  position, 
and  not  by  the  common  herd,  who  contented  them- 
selves with  imitations  made  from  some  part  of  the 
cocoanut-tree.  I  wish  those  artistic  souls,  who  so  scorned 
my  purchases  at  the  milliner's,  could  have  seen  with 
what  frantic  joy  they  were  received.  Many  times  staid 
matrons  burst  into  sudden  hysterical  weeping  when  I 
offered  them  my  wreaths,  while  kings,  chiefs,  and  even 
white  traders  intrigued  to  gain  one  of  these  coveted 
possessions. 

[13I 


The    Cruise    of 

residence,  remaining  until  it  began  to  blow  up. 
Some  settlers  have  lately  gone  there.  Lloyd  re- 
minds me  that  this  was  the  place  Louis  and  he 
once  proposed  to  try  and  get  possession  of,  and  I 
refused  to  hear  of  the  plan  because  of  the  volcano 
and  the  hordes  of  rats  that  infest  the  place.  I  re- 
pented when  I  saw  it,  and  my  heart  is  now  set 
upon  owning  an  island.  It  grows  warmer  daily, 
and  I  hope  soon  to  be  able  to  put  away  my  shoes 
and  stockings.^  Mr.  Henderson  is  looking  for  an 
island  about  the  existence  of  which  there  is  some 
doubt.  Lloyd  tells  me  that  Mr.  Low,  the  artist  in 
New  York,  once  said  that  he  had  a  friend  who  had 
actually  been  upon  this  very  island. 

26th. — I  have  not  been  able  to  put  away  my 
shoes  and  stockings,  for  the  sun  disappeared  soon 
after  my  last  entry;  for  several  days  we  have 
been  knocking  about  in  a  gale  of  wind  with  al- 
most continuous  rain.  The  air  is  thick  and  breath- 
less, hot,  and  at  the  same  time  chill.  To  my  dis- 
comfort, I  caught  a  cold  and  developed  a  smart 
attack  of  rheumatism.  The  captain  has  also  been 
unfortunate;  he,  too,  took  cold,  and  in  addition 

^  As  all  mine  and  iViost  of  Louis's  were  burned,  ex- 
cept what  I  had  on  my  feet,  I  wished  to  preserve  these 
for  such  times  as  it  might  seem  necessary  to  make  a 
civilised  appearance. 

[14] 


the    ^  ^  J  anet    N  i  cho  I  '  * 

had  a  heavy  door  slam  upon  one  of  his  fingers, 
crushing  the  nail.  Some  time  ago  a  cinder  blew 
into  one  of  his  eyes,  causing  an  inflammation,  and 
now  the  other  is  as  bad  in  consequence  of  the  poi- 
sonous fumes  of  our  involuntary  firework  display. 
To-day  we  came  to  anchor  off  Savage  Island, 
or  Nuieue,  having  on  board  some  eight  natives  of 
the  place  who  were  being  returned  home  by  the 
company.  It  was  pleasant  to  see  the  happy,  ex- 
cited faces  of  the  "boys"  as  we  drew  near  their 
native  land.  They  were  all  dressed  for  the  occa- 
sion in  new  clothes,  every  man  with  a  pair  of 
strong  new  boots  on  his  feet.  A  couple  of  dandies 
wore  velvet  smoking-caps  with  tassels,  and  red 
sashes.  It  is  a  smaller  and  lighter-coloured  race 
than  we  have  been  accustomed  to,  their  features 
and  expression  reminding  one  of  pretty,  sweet- 
faced  Chinamen.  Before  we  had  anchored,  neatly 
made  outriggers  were  circling  round  the  ship  and 
cries  of  greeting  arose  from  all  sides.  When  the 
steam-whistle  sounded  a  joyful  answering  shout 
ran  along  the  beach.  No  women  came  out  to  us. 
To  them  a  ship  is  tapu,  but  numbers  of  small 
boys  accompanied  the  men.  Soon  they  were  all 
wandering  over  the  ship,  marvelling  at  the  strange 
sights,  but  also  cannily  ready  to  make  an  honest 
or  dishonest  penny.  I  bought  a  couple  of  sticks  of 

[IS] 


The    Cruise    of 

sugar-cane  for  a  stick  of  tobacco  and  ordered  a 
hat  from  a  man  for  which  I  am  to  pay  two  shil- 
lings. The  man  had  a  hat  with  him  but  charged 
four  shillings  for  it  on  account  of  its  trimming,  a 
small  bit  of  red  flannel  laid  round  the  crown.  I 
also  bought  a  couple  of  little  model  canoes  (one 
for  Tin  Jack)  for  two  shillings. 

Our  sailors  are  *' black  fellows,"  some  from  the 
New  Hebrides,  some  from  the  Solomons  and  vari- 
ous other  places.  They  seem  to  find  it  easier  to 
speak  to  one  another  in  English  than  in  their  own 
tongues;  I  heard  one  say:  "I  wouldn't  like  to  go 
across  that  water  in  that  fellow's  canoe."  The 
men  from  Nuieue  looked  at  those  black  fellows 
with  great  curiosity  and  asked  in  what  island  did 
they  find  men  like  that.  One  of  these  black  sailors 
has  his  name  signed  as  Sally  Day.  To-day  I  heard 
one  of  the  others  politely  call  him  Sarah.  Savage 
Island  is  a  high-low  island;  that  is,  it  is  a  coral 
atoll  with  a  soil,  raised  more  or  less  unevenly, 
some  two  hundred  feet  above  the  sea-level.  It  pro- 
duces copra,  bananas,  cotton,  breadfruit,  heche- 
de-mer,  and  fungus,  and  is  governed  by  a  king 
with  the  assistance  of  four  chiefs  and  four  sub- 
chiefs.  Food  trees  and  plants  are  carefull}^  cul- 
tivated, and  the  people  have  the  reputation  of 
being  industrious   and  willing  to  work.   Captain 

[i6] 


the    ^' Janet   Nichol'' 

Henry  wished  to  take  a  little  girl  home  to  his 
wife,  but  was  not  allowed,  it  being  against  the 
law  that  a  female  should  leave  the  island. 

In  at  least  one  of  the  villages  of  Nuieue  a  singu- 
lar custom  prevails.  One  day  in  the  year  is  fixed 
as  a  day  of  judgment.  Every  soul,  man,  woman, 
and  child,  gathers  together  on  the  village  green. 
Votes  are  cast  for  a  whipper,  and  a  jury,  composed 
of  half  Christians  and  half  heathens,  is  chosen. 
One  by  one  the  people  come  forward  and  publicly 
confess  their  sins,  while  the  jury  fixes  the  punish- 
ment, which  is  whipping  or  an  equivalent  fine. 
The  fines  may  be  paid  in  goods  of  any  sort,  the 
value  of  the  article  offered  being  rated  at  the 
price  originally  paid  for  it.  For  instance,  a  man 
fined  a  dollar  may  bring  the  unwearable  remains 
of  a  tattered  hat  that  cost  him  a  dollar  the  year 
before.  The  elected  officials  do  not  escape  punish- 
ment by  virtue  of  their  position.  After  the  jury 
has  confessed  and  fixed  its  own  punishment,  the 
whipper  must  do  the  same,  and,  if  whipping  is 
his  doom,  must  proceed  to  whip  himself.  So,  next 
day,  every  soul  starts  afresh  with  consciences 
sponged  clean,  ready  for  a  new  record  of  sins. 
The  confessions  seem  to  be  genuine  and  sometimes 
cause  the  utmost  surprise  and  consternation  to 
those  who  have  been  sinned  against. 

[17] 


The    Cruise    of 

The  desire  to  own  an  island  is  still  burning  in 
my  breast.  In  this  neighbourhood,  nearer  Samoa, 
is  just  the  island  I  want,  owned,  unfortunately, 
by  a  man  in  Tahiti.  It  is  called  Nassau  and  is 
said  to  be  uninhabited. 

Last  night  an  immense  rat  ran  over  me  in  bed, 
and  Mr.  Henderson  had  the  same  unpleasant 
experience.  In  the  hold  of  the  Janet  are  a  number 
of  pure  white  rats  with  red  eyes,  which  appeared 
of  themselves  quite  mysteriousl}^.  The  captain  will 
not  allow  them  to  be  harmed,  which  I  think  is 
very  nice  and  sentimental  of  him.  It  was  amus- 
ing to  see  our  dog's  perplexity  when  we  came  to 
anchor,  and  he  put  his  head  out  of  a  port-hole  to 
have  a  look  at  Auckland.  His  very  tail  expressed 
alarmed  surprise.  Our  second  steward  (a  white 
man)  is  in  a  state  of  wild  delight.  He  took  his 
"billet"  under  the  head  steward  from  a  romantic 
hope  of  seeing  Samoa,  of  which  he  had  once  read 
a  description  in  a  newspaper.  Every  little  while  I 
hear  his  voice,  quivering  with  excitement:  "What 
do  you  think  of  it,  Mrs.  Stevens?"  One  moment 
he  is  thrusting  sugar-cane  into  my  hand:  "Taste 
it,  Mrs.  Stevens,  it's  sugar  stick!  I  never  saw  it 
before!"  and  the  next  is:  " Cocoa7iut.'  cocoanut! 
It's  green  cocoanut^  Mrs.  Stevens;  I  never  saw  it 
before  in  my  life!"  It  is  of  no  use  to  tell  him  that 

[i8] 


the    ^' Janet    Nichol'* 

it  is  all  an  old  story  to  me;  he  hears  nothing  but 
babbles  on  with  shining  eyes.  I  have  just  over- 
heard this  from  a  white  stoker  who  had  also 
never  been  in  the  tropics  before:  "He's  been  and 
swindled  me,  that  native!  There's  nothing  inside 
this  green  cocoanut  but  some  kind  of  water." 

Mr.  Henderson  has  just  told  us  as  a  secret  that 
our  next  island  will  be  Upolu,  Samoa,  and  we  are 
now  as  wildly  excited  as  the  second  steward.  On 
Wednesday  afternoon,  at  four  o'clock,  we  shall 
arrive  at  Apia,  and  the  next  morning,  at  break 
of  day,  off  we  fly  to  Vailima.  As  we  were  dis- 
cussing the  subject,  the  captain  called  out  that 
there  was  a  white  rat  in  his  cabin  and  he  wished 
to  catch  and  tame  it,  so  I  ran  to  help  him.  It  was 
under  his  bed,  he  said,  and  the  loveliest  rat  in 
the  world.  As  he  was  dilating  on  its  beauty,  out 
it  flashed,  jumping  on  him  and  rebounding  against 
my  breast  like  a  fluff"  of  white  cotton  wool.  The 
captain  laughed  and  screamed  with  shrill,  hyster- 
ical cries,  in  which  I  joined,  while  the  loveliest 
rat  in  the  world  scurried  away. 

ijth. — The  weather  really  abominable,  so  cold 
that  I  have  had  to  put  on  a  flannel  bodice.  Tin 
Jack  and  Lloyd  went  to  the  station  last  night  and 
returned  with  the  white  trader,  a  thin,  pallid 
man,  with  a  large,  hooked  nose  and  soft,  fright- 

[19] 


The    Cruise    of 

ened  brown  eyes.  For  very  dulness  I  was  about 
to  go  to  sleep,  when  Mr.  Henderson  ran  up  cry- 
ing: "Sail  ho!"  Sure  enough,  there  was  a  large 
vessel  wallowing  in  the  great  seas.  Captain  Henry 
thought  her  an  American  driven  in  by  the  heavy 
weather.  Round  the  point  of  the  island  the  breakers 
were  rising,  he  said,  some  forty  feet  high.  While 
we  were  watching  the  strange  craft  she  turned 
about  and  sailed  away,  to  our  great  disappoint- 
ment, no  doubt  having  only  come  up  to  take  her 
bearings.  After  I  had  closed  my  diary  last  night 
Mr.  Henderson  got  out  the  chart  and  showed 
us  his  own  islands  and  the  supposed  location  of 
Victoria  Island  which  he  is  looking  for.  I  offered 
to  toss  him  for  the  latter,  to  which  he  agreed. 
Louis  threw  up  a  piece  of  money  and  I  won.  I 
have  yet,  however,  to  find  Victoria. 

Nuieue  has  not  yet  recovered  from  the  effects 
of  last  year's  hurricane,  and  we  shall  not  get  many 
delicacies  here.  There  are  no  ripe  cocoanuts,  few 
bananas,  and  no  breadfruit.  Some  one  said  that 
I  could  get  spring  onions.  "How  do  they  grow 
them?"  I  asked;  meaning  did  they  sow  seeds  or 
plant  sets.  "On  the  graves,"  was  the  rather  star- 
tling answer. 

Last  night  Mr.  Henderson  pulled  off  a  rat's 
tail.  He  thought  to  pull  the  rat  from  a  hole  from 

[20] 


I 


the    ^* Janet    Nichol'' 

which  the  tail  protruded,  but  the  tail  came  off, 
and  the  rat  ran  away.  The  captain  tells  me  that 
there  is  generally  a  plague  of  flies  in  Nuieue.  It 
is  too  cold  for  them  now,  but  usually  when  the 
natives  come  out  in  their  canoes  their  backs, 
especially,  are  black  with  flies.  Some  one  has  sent 
me  a  basket  of  bananas  almost  too  sweet  and 
rich;  also  some  excellent  oranges.  I  have  mended 
the  bellows  of  our  camera,  where  it  has  been  eaten 
by  cockroaches,  with  sticking-plaster. 

28^A. — Steamed  round  to  the  other  side  of  the 
island  to  the  missionary  station,  carrjang  with  us 
the  trader  and  a  young  Irishman  named  Hicks; 
also  a  native  woman  and  a  boy.  Here,  to  our 
surprise,  we  saw  the  vessel  we  had  sighted  and 
lost;  she  proved  to  be  the  John  Williams. 

We  watched  her  plunging  to  and  fro,  now  close 
under  the  clifi^s,  now  skirting  the  Janet^  now 
fetching  our  hearts  in  our  mouths  as  she  stayed, 
and  forereached  in  staying,  till  you  would  have 
thought  she  had  leaves  on  her  jib-boom.  We  ac- 
tually got  up  the  camera  to  take  a  photograph  of 
the  expected  shipwreck.  We  were  told  afterward 
that  it  was  only  Captain  Turpie  showing  off"  his 
seamanship. 

The  John  Williams  is  a  missionary  ship  on  her 
way  to  Samoa  with  an  English  missionary  and 

[21] 


The    Cruise    of 

his  family  and  a  German  lady  who  is  going  to 
open  a  school  for  Samoan  girls.  Mr.  Lawes  is  the 
Nuieue  missionary,  a  dark,  foreign-looking  man. 
We  heard  nothing  but  good  of  him  from  traders 
and  natives. 

We  landed  and  climbed  up  the  part  path,  part 
stairs  of  the  clifF,  our  boys  already  trailing  down 
it  with  copra  sacks,  the  ship's  boat  slamming 
away  at  the  jetty  with  a  couple  of  black  fellows 
holding  on  to  it  like  grim  death.  The  missionary 
natives  were  ranged  in  bodies  on  the  path  to  meet 
us.  First  the  men  pressed  forward,  giggling,  and 
shook  hands;  then  the  women,  whose  many- 
coloured  garments  we  had  remarked  even  from 
the  ship,  glowing  on  the  cliff  like  a  bank  of  flowers. 
The  children  w^ho  followed  after  pretended  alarm 
and  fled,  but  laughed  as  they  ran.  I  was  some  dis- 
tance from  Louis,  who  has  written  the  following 
in  my  diary:  ^  "They  closed  in  on  me  like  a  sea; 
I  was  in  the  close  embrace  of  half  a  dozen  out- 
stretched hands,  with  smiling  faces  all  round  me, 
and  a  perfect  song  of  salutation  going  up.  From 
the  sirens  I  escaped  by  means  of  a  present  of 
tobacco,  which  was  the  cause  of  my  ruin,  later  on, 
when  Lloyd   and  I  went  out  to  photograph.  A 

'  He  used  this  afterward,  but  as  it  seems  to  belong 
to  my  diary  I  thought  I  might  let  it  stand. 

[22] 


the    ^^  Janet    Nichol** 

bevy  of  girls  followed,  hugging  and  embracing  me, 
and  going  through  my  pockets.  It  was  the  near- 
est thing  to  an  ugly  sight,  and  still  it  was  pretty; 
there  was  no  jeering,  no  roughness,  they  fawned 
upon  and  robbed  me  like  well-behaved  and 
healthy  children  with  a  favourite  uncle.  My  own 
cut  tobacco  and  my  papers  they  respected;  but  a 
little  while  after,  on  making  a  cigarette,  I  found 
my  match-box  gone.  There  was  small  doubt  in 
my  mind  as  to  the  culprit;  a  certain  plump  little 
maid,  more  like  a  Hawaiian,  with  a  coquettish 
cast  of  face  and  carriage  of  the  head,  and  con- 
spicuous by  a  splendid  red  flower  stuck  in  her 
ear,  had  visited  me  with  a  particular  thoroughness. 
I  demanded  my  matches.  She  shook  her  head  at 
first;  and  then  from  some  unknown  receptacle 
produced  my  box,  drew  out  a  single  match,  re- 
placed the  box,  and  with  a  subtle  smile  and  con- 
siderable grace  of  demeanour,  something  like  a 
courtly  hostess,  passed  me  on  the  match!" 

Tin  Jack  was  shown  some  spies  who  were  tak- 
ing names  of  women  who  had,  against  rules,  been 
aboard  ship.  They  will  all  be  fined  to-morrow. 
Levity  of  conduct,  they  tell  us,  is  not  allowed  and 
is  met  by  fines.  I  should  imagine  the  public  funds 
to  be  in  a  plethoric  condition. 

Before  I   knew  where   I   was  the  trader  had 

[23] 


The    Cruise    of 

swept  me  up  to  the  mission  house,  well  built  of 
coral,  with  a  high,  wide  roof  of  cocoanut  thatch 
beautifully  braided  together  and  tied  with  cocoa- 
nut  sennit.  In  an  inner  room  we  found  the  pas- 
sengers from  the  John  Williams^  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Marriott  and  the  German  teacher.  The  Marriotts 
had  with  them  the  loveliest  little  twins  imagina- 
ble, two  years  old,  and  almost  exactly  alike.  Louis 
and  Lloyd  disappeared  at  once  in  search  of  photo- 
graphs. The  king,  who  seems  to  be  liked  and  re- 
spected, was  off  in  the  bush,  so  they  were  disap- 
pointed in  his  likeness.  After  a  reasonable  time 
of  worship  before  the  twins,  I  started  to  follow 
the  photographers,  the  trader  conducting  me,  the 
John  Williams  party  and  Mr.  Lawes  (the  resident 
missionary)  following.  We  passed  a  cow,  a  bull, 
and  two  horses,  strange  sights  for  these  latitudes. 
There  were  a  great  many  flowers  blooming  in  the 
underbrush — jasmine,  the  flamboyant,  and  a  yel- 
low blossom  hke  a  "four-o'clock" — and  where  a 
space  had  been  cleared  grass  was  growing.  There 
is  no  running  water,  but  through  small  fissures 
in  the  rock  brackish  water  is  found  at  the  depth 
of  seven  fathoms.  I  was  told  of  one  great  fissure, 
into  which  stone  steps  had  been  cut,  where  a 
subterranean  stream  gushes  out  in  a  waterfall. 
The  trader,  who  had  already  sold  us  three  tappa 

[24] 


the    ^^ Janet    NichoT* 

(native  bark-cloth)  table-cloths  at  an  exorbitant 
price,  clung  to  me  p>ertinaciously,  taking  me  into 
his  house,  where  he  showed  me  a  mat  he  wished 
a  pound  for,  whereas  it  was  worth  but  a  couple 
of  dollars.  I  refused  to  buy  it,  whereupon  he  pre- 
sented me  with  two  small  rather  pretty  mats.  I 
thought  he  owed  them  to  me,  so  I  accepted  them 
without  compunction.  The  young  Irishman,  who 
had  followed  us  in,  opened  his  box  and  took  out 
an  immense  yellow  shell  necklace,  a  cocoa-shell 
basket,  and  a  strange,  very  heav)^,  carefully  shaped 
stone,  which  the  natives  use  in  fighting.  All  these 
articles  he  insisted  on  my  accepting.  I  was  greatly 
pleased  with  the  fighting  stone.  The  trader  prom- 
ised to  get  me  a  couple  of  "peace  sticks"  when  we 
return  to  his  side  of  the  island.  These  are  used 
by  the  women  when  they  think  a  fight  has  lasted 
long  enough.  They  rush  between  the  combatants, 
waving  their  "peace  sticks,"  and  the  affair  ends. 
These  peace  sticks  are  made  of  dark,  almost 
black  ironwood,  are  about  three  feet  long,  shaped 
like  spears,  and  ornamented,  where  the  hand  nat- 
urally holds  them,  with  cocoa-fibre  sennit  and  yel- 
low bird  feathers.  The  feathers  looked  to  be  the 
same  as  were  used  in  Hawaii  for  the  royal  cloaks. 
As  I  write  Tin  Jack  appears  in  a  hat  of  Nuieue 
manufacture,  braided  pandanus,  in  shape  an  exact 

[25] 


The    Cruise    of 

reproduction  of  the  civilised  high  silk  hat,   and 
indescribably  comic. 

Returning  to  the  mission  house,  we  stopped  at 
the  king's  newly  built  palace  for  a  piece  of  iron- 
wood  that  I  wanted  to  mend  the  camera  stand. 
The  queen,  a  pretty,  smiling,  young  woman,  stood 
in  the  doorway  directing  us  where  to  look.  Ar- 
riving at  the  house,  I  examined  the  house  dog's 
ear,  and  found  he  was  suffering  from  canker. 
Louis  and  I,  together,  remembered  the  remedy 
for  him,  and  told  it  to  Mr.  Lawes.  I  begged  that 
Louis  and  Lloyd  might  see  the  twins.  The  little 
fairies  were  heavy-eyed  from  the  knocking  about 
and  the  close  air  of  the  John  Williams.  Each  had 
had  a  convulsion  during  the  last  two  days.  I 
thought  they  looked  rather  too  much  like  lit- 
tle angels.  I  tried,  without  success,  to  make  our 
party  refuse  Mrs.  Lawes's  invitation  to  high  tea. 
It  did  seem  very  hard;  month  after  month  passes 
in  the  most  deadly  monotony.  Suddenly  here  are 
two  ships  at  her  door,  each,  incredible  fact,  with 
white  women  on  board,  and  she  has  almost  no 
time  to  speak  to  either,  and  in  an  hour  or  two 
they  are  gone.  Poor  Mrs.  Lawes  had  wild  eyes 
when  the  two  sets  of  passengers  and  most  of  the 
officers  gathered  in  a  great  circle  round  her  board. 
It  was  an  excellent  meal,  which  I  should  have 

[26] 


the    ^^  Janet    NichoV 

thoroughly  enjoyed  had  I  not  felt  like  a  cannibal 
and  that  I  was  eating  Mrs.  Lawes.  But  this  it  is 
to  be  a  missionary's  wife.  I  am  sure  she  must  have 
had  a  nervous  fever  after  we  were  gone.  She  found 
a  moment  to  bewail  her  fate  to  Louis;  if  only  we 
had  come  piecemeal,  as  it  were,  and  not  all  at 
once,  like  a  waterspout,  she  would  have  been  so 
happy.  We  shall  leave  behind  us  only  a  memory 
of  hurry  and  flurry  and  confusion  worse  con- 
founded. While  we  were  at  table  the  John  Williams 
ran  so  close  inshore  that  we  were  frightened,  and 
Mr.  Marriott  very  anxious,  as  all  his  worldly 
goods  were  on  board.  The  John  Williams  left 
Sydney  on  Friday  the  nth,  the  same  day  we  did, 
and  now  we  meet  here  and  possibly  may  meet 
again  in  Samoa.  We  had  just  finished  our  meal 
when  the  steam-whistle  blew  for  us,  and  away  we 
all  trooped  to  the  boat.  The  John  Williams  was 
leaving  also. 

We  had  some  trade  stuff  to  be  landed  at  the 
other  side  of  the  island.  There  Lloyd  went  ashore 
and  got  my  peace  sticks  for  which  he  paid  two 
shillings  the  pair.  A  great  many  natives  came 
aboard,  among  the  rest  the  handsome  sister  and 
daughter  of  a  chief.  I  gave  them  both  a  wreath, 
to  their  great  pride  and  joy.  Tin  Jack  dressed  up 
in  his  wig  and  whiskers  and  false  nose.  The  na- 

[27] 


The    Cruise    of 

tives  at  first  were  much  alarmed  and  some  of  the 
women  incHned  to  cry. 

2<^th. — Squally  all  night,  but  this  morning  the 
sun  has  come  out  and  it  really  looks  hopeful. 
The  captain  has  been  working  all  day  until  four 
o'clock  at  my  device  for  mending  the  camera 
with  Nuieue  ironwood.  I  hardly  slept  last  night 
for  the  heavy  rolling  and  pitching  of  the  Janet. 
A  black  cat  has  appeared,  brought  on  board  from 
Nuieue.  It  was  proposed  to  have  a  rat  hunt  with 
the  Auckland  dog.  I  meanly  intended  to  inform 
the  captain,  but  I  need  not  have  troubled  myself, 
for  when  a  rat  was  shown  to  the  dog  he  nearly 
went  into  a  fit  with  terror.  I  have  all  my  things 
ready  packed  to  go  on  shore  at  Samoa. 

30^/1. — Passed  Tutuila  in  the  morning.  Almost 
despair  of  reaching  Upolu  before  to-morrow,  owing 
to  an  adverse  current,  but  make  it  just  after  sun- 
down. We  ran  along  Upolu  for  a  couple  of  hours, 
the  scenery  enchanting;  abrupt  mountains,  not  so 
high  as  in  Tahiti  or  Hawaii,  nor  so  strangely  aw- 
ful as  the  Marquesan  highlands,  but  with  a  great 
beauty  of  outline  and  colour,  the  thick  jungle 
looking  from  the  deck  of  the  ship  like  soft  green 
moss.  Through  the  glass  I  could  see  a  high,  narrow 
waterfall  drop  into  the  sea.  Breaths  of  the  land 
breeze  began  to  come  out  to  us,  intoxicating  with 

[28] 


the    '/Janet    Nichol*' 

the  odours  of  the  earth,  of  growing  trees,  sweet 
flowers  and  fruits,  and  dominating  all,  the  clean, 
wholesome  smell  of  breadfruit  baking  in  hot 
stones.  Soon  masts  of  ships  began  to  show,  and 
the  smoke  of  Apia.  The  signal-flag  was  carried  up 
to  the  foretopmast  and  laboriously  tied  on  by  a 
black  boy,  when  the  pilot  came  quickly  on  board. 
It  was  not  quite  dark,  but  we  thought  it  better 
to  dine  on  the  Janet,  though  we  were  burning  to 
get  on  shore.  While  we  were  eating,  people  began 
to  arrive  in  boats  to  offer  their  welcome  to  Samoa. 
Louis  and  I  started  off,  leaving  Lloyd  to  follow 
in  the  ship's  boat.  It  was  a  dream-Hke  thing  to 
find  oneself  walking  along  Apia  beach,  shaking 
hands  and  passing  talofas  on  every  side.  We  spent 
the  evening  on  shore  and,  after  ordering  horses 
for  the  early  morning,  went  to  bed  tired  out. 

May  1st. — Woke  at  six  to  hear  the  horses  com- 
ing for  us.  When  last  we  rode  out  to  Vaihma  the 
road  was  but  a  bridle-path  almost  closed  in  by 
the  bush.  We  can  now  ride  two  abreast,  or  even 
three,  if  we  Hke.  Tin  Jack  was  much  delighted  to 
see  pineapples  growing  wild,  and  bewailed  his 
mistake  in  having  settled  on  a  low  island.  Lloyd 
rode  ahead  to  a  native  village  on  the  road  with  a 
packet  of  sweeties  for  some  little  girls  who  used 
to  dance  for  us  when  we  lived  in  the  bush  near  by. 

[29] 


The    Cruise    of 

We  found  Lloyd  waiting  for  us;  only  one  of  the 
little  girls  was  about.  After  we  left  the  village  the 
road  plunged  into  the  forest.  The  tall,  liana- 
draped  trees,  carrying  ferns  in  the  forks  of  their 
branches,  cast  a  grateful  shade,  and  we  rode 
slowly,  to  enjoy  all  to  the  utmost. 

There  was  a  crowd  of  black  boys  at  Vailima 
cutting  down  and  burning  trees  and  brush.  I 
believe  they  are  runaways  from  the  German  plan- 
tations. There  are  a  good  many  noble  trees,  of 
great  height  and  girth,  left  standing.  A  little, 
wooden  house  has  been  run  up,  from  the  balcony 
of  which  we  could  see  the  masts  of  the  Janet  as  she 
lay  at  anchor  and  past  her  far  out  over  the  sea. 

It  is  odd  how  Httle  is  known  of  Samoa,  even  by 
its  inhabitants.  In  Sydney  I  asked  particulars  con- 
cerning a  turbine  wheel  in  case  I  should  want  one 
in  Vailima.  The  man  I  consulted  assured  me  it 
would  be  quite  useless  to  attempt  such  a  thing, 
as  a  friend  of  his  just  from  Samoa,  who  had  lived 
there  a  long  time,  told  him  there  was  not  a  tree 
of  any  size  in  Upolu,  and  none  whatever  of  hard- 
wood. On  the  contrary,  in  the  bush  are  numbers 
of  magnificent  timber-trees,  very  hard  and  beau- 
tiful in  colour.  One  in  particular,  a  light  yellow, 
is  very  like  satinwood  and  another  seems  to  be 
a  sort  of  mahogany.  We  took  photographs,  and 

[30] 


the    ^^  Janet    N  ichoV  ' 

after  a  couple  of  hours  reluctantly  tore  ourselves 
away. 

A  native  man,  an  old  friend,  stopped  us  on  the 
way  back  to  Apia,  holding  the  bridles  of  our 
horses  that  we  should  not  escape  him.  A  woman 
we  were  acquainted  with  passed;  she  turned  and 
stopped,  cooing  like  a  dove,  every  limb  and  feature 
expressing  surprise  and  delight. 

After  an  inordinate  luncheon  I  opened  some 
boxes  we  had  left  here  and  took  out  various  articles 
suitable  for  presents.  At  the  main  store  we  found 
our  bush  friend  and  his  little  daughter  waiting 
for  us  with  a  large  basket  of  oranges.  Louis  gave 
the  child  a  shilUng  and  told  her  to  choose  from 
the  shelves  a  piece  of  cotton  print.  She  was  daz- 
zled by  the  magnificence  of  the  offer,  and  after 
long  deliberation  chose  the  ugliest  piece  of  the 
lot.  I  gave  an  old  woman  a  print  gown,  upon  which 
she  purred  like  a  cat  and  kissed  my  hands.  Our 
old  friend  Sitione  (wounded  in  the  late  war) 
came  up  and  spoke  to  us,  looking  very  ill,  his  arm 
bandaged  and  in  a  sling.  The  doctor  tells  Louis 
he  thinks  very  badly  of  the  arm  and  fears  he 
must  amputate  it.^  There  was  also  something 
wrong  with  Sitione's  eye  which  was  bandaged. 

^  Sitione  was  suffering  from  the  effects  of  an  old 
wound  got  in  the  last  wars,  some  of  the  bones  in  his 

[31] 


The    Cruise    of 

A  little  boy  brought  a  basket  of  chilli  peppers 
I  wanted  to  carry  on  board  with  me.  There  were 
no  vegetables  to  be  had,  as  the  Chinaman's 
garden,  the  only  one  in  Samoa,  had  been  washed 
away  by  a  freshet.  At  half  past  three  we  returned 
to  the  Janet,  where  Doctor  Steubel,  the  German 
consul-general.  Baron  von  Pritzfrltz,  captain  of 
the  German  man-of-war  lying  in  Apia  harbour, 
and  another  German  whose  name  I  forget  paid 
us  a  visit.  We  talked  a  few  moments  and  drank  a 
glass  of  champagne;  then  the  whistle  sounded,  our 
friends  bade  us  good-bye,  and  at  about  four  we 
steamed  out.  Our  little  house  in  the  bush  was 
visible  to  the  naked  eye  from  the  deck  of  the 
steamer. 

shoulder  being  shattered;  they  were  finally  removed, 
and  Sitione  recovered  entirely  with  only  a  scar  or  two 
to  show  where  the  doctor  had  operated.  Sitione,  I  was 
told,  received  this  wound  while  doing  a  very  brave  and 
dashing  act.  During  one  of  the  many  Samoan  wars  his 
party  had  fallen  back  a  short  distance,  leaving  an  open 
space  between  them  and  the  enemy;  in  this  opening 
Sitione  perceived  that  a  friend  of  his  had  fallen  and 
was  unable  to  arise.  The  enemy  were  already  rushing 
forward  to  take  the  man's  head,  as  is  their  custom, 
when  Sitione  bounded  back  in  the  face  of  their  guns, 
caught  up  his  friend,  and  brought  him  into  safety 
with  a  hail  of  bullets  whizzing  after  him,  and  a  shat- 
tered shoulder. 

[32] 


the    ^^ Janet    NichoT* 

2d. — At  about  three  o'clock  we  sighted  an  is- 
land known  by  various  names — Swayne's  Island, 
Quiros,  or  Olesenga — a  small,  round,  low  island 
surrounding  a  triangular  brackish  lagoon  like  an 
ornamental  lake  in  a  park.  It  is  inhabited  by  a 
half-caste  man  known  as  King  Jennings,  his  fam- 
ily, and  about  eighty  people  from  different  islands. 
The  original  Jennings  was  an  American  who  mar- 
ried a  Samoan  wife.  He  left  Samoa  in  a  hufF  after 
having  built  a  man-of-war  for  the  government,  for 
which  payment  was  refused.  As  the  motive  power 
of  the  ship  came  from  wooden  paddle-wheels, 
turned  with  a  crank  by  hand,  it  is  hardly  surpris- 
ing that  the  complaint  of  her  extreme  slowness 
and  the  great  labour  involved  in  working  her 
should  have  been  brought  forward  as  reasons  for 
non-payment.  She  had  a  complete  armament  of 
great  guns  and  all  the  equipments  of  a  proper 
man-of-war.  Jennings,  in  a  fury  of  indignation 
and  disappointment,  shook  the  dust  of  Samoa  off 
his  feet,  and  with  his  wife  and  family  set  up  a 
little  kingdom  of  his  own  in  Quiros.  Here  he  blew 
out  a  passage  through  the  reef,  built  two  schooners 
of  island  wood,  floated  them  off  with  barrels,  and 
sold  them  to  the  German  firm  at  Samoa. 

A  flag  was  hoisted  on  Quiros,  the  stars  and 
stripes,  with  what  appeared  to  be  a  dove  in  the 

[  33  ] 


The    Cruise    of 

field.  We  asked  with  some  curiosity  what  the  dove 
indicated.  They  told  us  that  a  night-bird  came 
and  cried  about  the  settlement  for  months;  this 
was  supposed  to  bode  sickness;  so  to  propitiate 
the  ill-omened  bird  it  was  added  to  the  flag. 

There  is  a  good  road  on  the  island,  excellent 
houses,  a  church,  and  a  schoolhouse  containing 
an  imported  half-caste  schoolmaster.  From  a  tall 
building  used  for  storing  copra  men  were  already 
laying  a  temporary  wooden  track  down  to  the 
landing  for  the  copra  trucks  to  run  upon.  This 
busy  scene  was  brought  to  an  end  by  Mr.  Hender- 
son's information  that  he  would  not  take  in 
cargo  until  our  return  voyage.  This  is  a  rich,  low 
island  with  plenty  of  soil,  and  is  said  to  bring  in 
a  very  comfortable  revenue,  which  might  be  still 
larger  did  King  Jennings  care  to  make  it  so. 

Mr.  Henderson  and  Louis  went  on  shore;  while 
they  were  away  I  tried  to  make  a  Mexican  sauce, 
called  salsa,  with  the  chiUis  from  Samoa  and  the 
onions  from  the  Nuieue  graves.  The  chillis  burned 
my  hands  dreadfully,  and  the  sauce  turned  out 
to  be  too  hot  to  be  used  except  as  a  flavouring 
for  soups,  for  which  it  was  excellent. 

Mr.  Henderson  and  Louis  came  back  with  some 
return  labour  boys  for  Danger  Island.  One  who 
had  signed  to  serve  five  years  had  been  waiting 

[34] 


the    '^  Janet   N i cho T  ' 

another  three  for  a  vessel  to  take  him  home.  He 
was  once  disappointed,  and  nearly  died  of  it.  I 
am  thankful  he  had  this  opportunity.^  I  can  see 
a  horse  eating  grass  on  the  island,  and  Louis  has 
seen  a  carriage. 

\th. — Ran  through  a  light  squall  in  the  night 
and  sighted  Danger  Island  at  four  in  the  morn- 
ing. At  the  first  landing  is  a  place  in  the  reef 
where  people  upset  in  boats  are  sucked  under, 
never  to  be  seen  again.  Our  Quiros  passengers  are 
in  a  wild  state  of  excitement;  ladies  on  the  after 
hatch  slipping  on  their  clean  shifts,  and  the  comb 
going  from  hand  to  hand.  The  eight-year  exile 
clutched  Louis's  hand,  and  in  a  voice  trembling 

^  The  "labour  boys"  do,  sometimes,  die  of  home- 
sickness, A  black  boy  called  Arriki  whom  we  hired  from 
the  German  firm,  did  so  die  after  we  left  Samoa.  The 
man  to  whom  he  was  assigned  by  the  German  firm  told 
me  that  both  Arriki  and  a  friend  of  his  began  to  droop 
and  become  sullen,  and  then  went  quite  mad;  soon 
after  they  died  at  about  the  same  time  from  no  appar- 
ent disease,  but  he  said  he  knew  the  symptoms — "just 
plain  homesickness  for  a  cannibal  island."  Arriki,  in  a 
moment  of  confidence,  once  described  to  me  his  life 
in  his  own  land.  It  seemed  to  consist  of  flight  from  one 
unsafe  spot  to  another,  with  death  hunting  on  every 
hand.  Both  his  father  and  mother  had  been  killed  and 
eaten,  with  the  most  of  his  friends;  and  yet  Arriki  died 
of  homesickness. 

[35] 


The    Cruise    of 

with  emotion  ejaculated  "coco  nuk."  As  we  drew 
nearer  the  three  islands  of  the  group  began  to 
detach  themselves.  Danger  Island,  or  Pukapuka, 
is  the  only  one  inhabited.  It  is  governed  by  a 
king  who  allows  none  of  his  subjects  to  gather 
cocoanuts  without  his  royal  permission,  and  as 
he  seldom  lets  any  one  have  more  than  is  sufficient 
for  his  food,  very  little  copra  is  made.  Here  the 
nuts,  contrary  to  the  usual  custom,  are  dried  in 
the  shell  to  prevent  cockroaches  from  devouring 
the  meat,  and  consequently  the  copra  is  very 
fine  and  white;  but  the  quantity  made  is  so  small 
that  it  does  not  pay  to  keep  a  trader  on  the  island. 


We  could  see  the  natives  gathering  on  the 
beach  in  great  force.  They  seemed  thunderstruck 
at  the  sight  of  a  vessel  with  furled  sails  moving 
so  rapidly  against  a  strong  head  wind,  the  Janet 
being  the  first  steamer  that  had  touched  at  Puka- 
puka. As  soon  as  our  passengers  were  recognised, 
a  joyful  shout  ran  up  and  down  the  beach,  and, 
canoes  were  launched  and  paddled  out  to  meet  us. 
When  they  were  just  abreast  of  us  Captain  Henry 
blew  the  steam-whistle.  The  natives  were  appalled; 
every  paddle  stopped  short,  and  the  crowds  on 
the  beach  seemed  stricken  to  stone.  Our  Pukapuka 

[36] 


the    ^ '  J  an  et    N  i  choV  ' 

passengers  tried  to  encourage  the  people  in  the 
canoes  to  come  nearer,  calHng  to  them  from  the 
deck  of  the  ship,  but  it  was  some  time  before  they 
took  heart  and  resumed  their  paddling.  The  King, 
,  a  shabbily  clad  man  of  rather  mean  appearance, 
was  among  them. 

The  meeting  between  the  long-parted  friends 
was  very  pretty  and  touching.  I  like  their  mode 
of  showing  affection  better  than  ours.  They  took 
hands  and  pressed  their  faces  together  lightly 
with  a  delicate  sniff,  as  I  have  often  seen  a  white 
mother  caress  her  baby.  One  elderly  woman,  I 
was  sorry  to  see,  had  bad  news;  she  looked  very 
sorrowful,  and  when  a  young  boy  came  up  to 
greet  her  she  threw  her  arms  round  him  and 
wept  aloud.  All  the  rest,  however,  were  sparkling 
with  excitement  and  joy.  The  sheep,  which  the 
strangers  saw  for  the  first  time,  were  studied  with 
much  interest.  A  group  of  middle-aged,  respectable 
men  stood  off  at  some  distance  and  whistled  to  the 
sheep  as  though  they  were  dogs;  getting  no  re- 
sponse, they  ventured  a  little  nearer,  when  one 
of  the  sheep  happened  to  move.  The  crowd  fell 
back  in  dire  confusion,  and  one  man  who  had 
been  in  the  van,  but  now  occupied  a  rear  position, 
asked  in  a  trembling  voice  if  the  bite  of  those 
animals  was  very  dangerous. 

[37] 


The    Cruise    of 

Before  our  passengers  left  us,  each  shook  hands 
with  all  on  board  and  bade  us  farewell;  they  said 
'* good-bye,  sir,"  to  Louis  and  "good-bye,  mister," 
to  me.  As  they  paddled  away  I  took  out  my  hand- 
kerchief and  waved  it.  One  woman,  the  proud 
possessor  of  a  handkerchief  of  her  own,  waved 
hers  in  reply  and  kept  it  up  until  I,  at  least,  was 
tired.  I  like  to  think  of  the  pleasant  evening  at 
Pukapuka,  the  gossip,  the  news,  the  passing  of 
presents,  and  the  exhibition  of  treasures  and  for- 
eign curiosities. 

6th. — Sighted  Manihlki  at  half  past  twelve,  an 
outlying,  low  coral  island  with  enclosed  lagoon, 
very  thinly  wooded  with  cocoa-palms  and  pan- 
danus  trees. 

Quiros,the  first  Spanish  navigator  of  the  Pacific, 
gave  to  an  island  the  name  "Gente  Hermosa" 
(Beautiful  People),  which  has  always  been  ascribed 
to  OlesengaorQuiros  Island;but  since  the  memory 
of  man  Quiros  has  been  uninhabited  until  the  ad- 
vent of  the  American  Jennings.  It  is  very  possible 
that  the  navigator  meant  Manihiki,  or  its  neigh- 
bouring island  Rakahoa,  as  the  isle  of  beautiful 
people.  It  is  significant  that  Manihiki  is  always 
conspicuously  marked  on  even  the  smallest  maps 
of  the  world,  no  doubt  from  the  fact  that  its  de- 
lightful people  have  attracted  so  much  attention 

[38] 


the    "Janet    N  ichoV  '' 

from  seamen  that  the  place  has  acquired  an  arti- 
ficial importance  out  of  all  proportion  to  its  few 
square  miles  of  reef. 

The  regular  diet  of  the  Manihikians  Is  composed 
almost  entirely  of  cocoanuts.  The  pandanus  seeds 
are  boiled  and  chewed,  but  never  made  into  food- 
stuff as  is  done  in  the  Gilberts.  There  are  pigs  and 
fowls  in  abundance,  but  these  are  only  killed  on 
great  occasions,  such  as  marriages  or  deaths. 
Sucking  pigs  are  not  killed,  but  only  large  ones, 
the  larger  the  better.  There  are  no  white  women 
on  ManihikI,  and  but  three  white  men — an  ab- 
sconding produce-merchant,  a  runaway  marine, 
and  a  young  Englishman  who  was  wrecked  on  a 
neighbouring  island.  These  men  live  on  the  bounty 
of  the  natives,  and  though  they  dislike  eating 
copra,  or  "cocoanut  steak,"  as  it  Is  called,  they 
seem  to  thrive  very  well  upon  it. 

We  landed  on  the  beach  as  there  was  no  entrance 
to  the  lagoon.  The  aspect  of  the  reef  was  not  very 
reassuring  as  we  rowed  toward  it,  but  our  men 
took  us  through  a  narrow,  tortuous  passage,  and 
in  a  few  minutes  we  were  shaking  hands  and 
exchanging  salutations  with  the  natives,  a  pleas- 
ant, smiling  crowd  with  many  beautiful  children. 
We  were  delighted  to  find  that  we  had  arrived 
at  a  most  interesting  period,  that  of  the  yearly 

[39] 


The    Cruise    of 

jubilee.  No  one  could  tell  us  how  this  institution, 
which  is  known  in  other  islands  besides  Manihiki, 
first  arose.  For  one  week  out  of  every  year  all 
laws  are  held  in  abeyance,  and  the  island  gives 
itself  up  to  hilarious  enjoyment  without  fear  of 
consequences,  singing,  beating  the  cocoanut-wood 
drum,  and  dancing  according  to  the  old  heathen 
customs.  At  any  other  time  the  punishment  for 
heathen  dances  is  most  severe. 

The  three  beach-combers"  were  all  well  dressed, 
in  coats  and  trousers,  and  very  good-looking.  One 
man  said  his  present  way  of  life  "had  an  air 
of  loafing  on  the  natives"  which  he  disliked,  but 
they  all  seemed  proud  of  their  high  position  as 
whites,  with  the  exception  of  the  ex-marine,  who 
had  fallen  under  the  scorn  of  his  companions  for 
becoming  "kanaka-ised."  Still,  that  they  were 
under  some  subjection,  we  could  see,  but  owned 
themselves  well  used.  They  do  not  exactly  like 
copra,  but,  as  one  said:  "We  have  no  right  to 
complain;  they  give  us  what  they  have."  They 
had  had  no  tobacco  for  months,  which  they  felt  a 
great  privation.  When  a  ship  comes  in,  the  natives, 
men,  women,  and  children,  often  smoke  the  strong 
trade  tobacco  until  they  fall  down  insensible, 
sometimes  becoming  convulsed  as  in  epilepsy. 

The  trader,  a  half-caste,  had  already  boarded 

[40] 


the    ^^  Janet   NichoV 

the  Janet  in  a  boat  of  his  own,  but  his  wife,  a 
stout,  good-natured,  sensible-looking  woman,  was 
waiting  on  the  beach  to  receive  us.  She  at  once 
took  possession  of  me  as  her  right,  and  I  was  tri- 
umphantly swept  off  to  her  house,  the  crowd  at 
our  heels;  here  we  were  regaled  on  cocoanuts, 
while  all  the  population  who  could  crowd  into 
the  room  gazed  on  us  unwinking.  The  windows, 
also,  were  filled,  which  cut  off  the  air  and  made 
the  place  rather  suffocating.  The  children  were 
made  to  sit  down  in  the  front  row  so  that  the 
older  people  could  see  over  their  heads.  One  old 
woman  made  me  feel  quite  uncomfortable.  Her 
eyes  remained  fixed,  her  jaw  dropped,  and  noth- 
ing for  a  single  moment  diverted  her  attention 
from  what  she  evidently  regarded  as  a  shocking 
and  wonderful  spectacle.  Natives  have  said  that 
the  first  sight  of  white  people  is  dreadful,  as  they 
look  like  corpses  walking.  I  have  myself  been 
startled  by  the  sight  of  a  crowd  of  whites  after 
having  seen  only  brown-skinned  people  for  a  long 
time.  Louis  has  a  theory  that  we  whites  were 
originally  albinos.  Certainly  we  are  not  a  nice 
colour.  I  remember  as  a  child  the  words  "flesh 
colour"  were-  sickening  to  me,  and  I  could  not 
bear  to  see  them  in  my  paint-box. 
The  room  was  neat  and  clean,  as  were  all  the 

[41] 


The    Cruise    of 

houses  in  the  village.  Most  of  them  contained  a 
bedstead  cut  out  of  imported  hardwood  with  a 
spread  of  gay  patchwork,  and  a  mat-covered  sofa, 
very  high  and  wide.  In  an  inner  room  were  great 
stacks  of  pearl  shell,  not,  I  should  say,  of  the  very 
best  quality,  and  much  smaller  than  the  law  al- 
lows in  the  Paumotus.  The  shell  is  gathered  in 
the  lagoon  by  native  divers.  Very  few  pearls  are 
found,  probably  because  the  shell  is  taken  so 
young.  Leaving  the  trader's  house,  we  started  to 
cross  the  island,  which  is  very  narrow;  Louis 
thought  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  and 
I  no  more  than  one  hundred  yards.  On  the  way 
we  passed  a  crowd  of  dancers,  ranged  in  two  rows, 
the  women  on  one  side,  the  men  on  the  other,  in 
front  of  the  "speak-house."  The  dance  was  more 
like  the  Marquesans'  than  we  had  ever  seen.  The 
European  costumes  in  which  most  of  the  people 
had  dressed  for  our  reception  rather  spoiled  the 
eflfect,  though  many  wore  wreaths  and  head- 
dresses made  of  dyed  leaves.  The  native  dyes  give 
beautiful,  soft  colours,  yellow,  red,  and  pink, 
which  they  also  use  in  hats  and  mats,  some  of 
the  latter  being  exquisitely  fine  and  as  pliant  as 
cloth. 

We  found  the  lagoon  of  crystal  clearness  and 
dotted  with  little  islands.  Numbers  of  small  ves- 

[42] 


the    ^^ Janet   NichoT* 

sels  were  lying  at  anchor;  no  doubt  they  had  been 
collecting  the  shell.  Though  it  was  very  lovely  to 
look  at,  we  did  not  stay  long  on  the  borders  of 
the  lagoon,  being  driven  away  by  an  ancient  and 
fishlike  smell.  On  our  way  back  we  went  into  the 
church  and  the  speak-house.  In  the  speak-house, 
a  very  good  building  of  coral,  were  stocks  which 
were  used  to  punish  malefactors.  These  stocks 
consisted  of  a  couple  of  ring-like  handcuffs  fast- 
ened, one  above  the  other,  a  foot  from  the  ground, 
at  the  side  of  a  post.  The  church,  a  thatched  coral 
building  without  flooring,  was  really  beautiful. 
The  seats,  with  backs,  are  in  rows,  each  with  a 
fine,  narrow  mat  spread  over  it.  On  either  side 
run  galleries,  the  balustrades  elaborately  carved 
and  stained  with  yellow,  red,  and  pink  dyes.  In 
the  middle  of  one  balustrade  the  word  "Zion" 
was  carved.  The  pulpit  was  a  mass  of  carving  and 
inlaid  mother-of-pearl;  the  altar,  which  ran  round 
it,  was  covered  with  fringed  mats  extremely  fine 
and  flexible  and  worked  in  diff'erent  colours. 

Among  many  others  we  made  the  acquaintance 
of  a  man  who  had  been  in  Samoa,  blown  there  in 
a  storm.  There  were  with  him  one  other  man 
and  three  little  girls.  It  began  to  blow,  he  said, 
the  sea  rose  very  high,  and  the  air  and  sky  grew 
black.    Suddenly    his    boat    capsized    and    "my 

[43] 


The    Cruise    of 

girls,"  he  said,  **swim — swim — swim  in  the  sea." 
With  their  help  he  got  the  boat  righted  and 
gathered  up  what  he  could  of  his  cargo,  green 
cocoanuts  and  copra,  and  ran  for  Samoa,  "Was 
any  one  frightened?"  I  asked.  "Only  the  other 
man,"  he  said.  We  met  two  of  his  little  girls;  one 
seemed  clever  and  had  picked  up  a  little  Samoan 
and  a  little  English  while  she  was  in  Apia.  We 
asked  her  name.  "Anna,"  she  proudly  answered. 
The  other  called  herself  Anna  Maria. 

Lloyd  had  photographed  the  King  in  his  royal 
robes,  a  pair  of  white  duck  trousers  and  a 
black  velveteen  coat;  over  all  was  worn  a  sort  of 
black  cloth  poncho  bordered  with  gold  fringe.  Sus- 
pended from  the  neck  of  royalty  was  a  tinsel 
star  and  on  his  head  a  crown  of  red  and  white 
pandanus  leaves.  Later  in  the  evening  he  ap- 
peared in  a  pair  of  black  trousers  and  a  frock 
coat.  In  common  with  his  subjects,  the  King  is 
not  of  commanding  stature.  None  of  the  islanders 
we  have  yet  seen  on  this  cruise  can  compare  with 
the  Kingsmill  people  in  haughty  grace  of  carriage, 
nor  are  they  in  any  way  so  fine  a  race  physically 
though  most  charming  in  manner.  After  dinner, 
finding  the  trader's  wife  and  the  missionary's  wife 
having  tea  on  deck,  I  gave  them  each  a  wreath, 
which  delighted  them  extremely.  We  hired  a  na- 

[44] 


the    ^^  Janet    NichoT' 

tive  boat  to  take  us  on  shore  again  for  the  eve- 
ning; the  man  to  whom  the  boat  belonged  begged 
us  to  go  to  his  house,  but  I  wished  first  to  take  a 
present,  a  print  dress,  to  Anna. 

Found  Anna's  house  and  gave  my  present.  We 
were  offered  cocoanuts,  to  our  great  embarrass- 
ment, but  Louis  fortunately"  thought  of  saying 
**paea"  (a  rather  vulgar  Tahitian  word  signifying 
*'I  am  full  to  repletion").  They  understood  at 
once  and  seemed  greatly  amused.  Anna  gave  me 
a  hat  of  her  own  manufacture  and  then  we  went 
with  the  boatman  to  his  house.  A  party  of  young 
girls  followed  us,  wrangling  together  as  to  which 
had  chosen  me  first.  It  seemed  to  be  settled  amica- 
bly, for  one  girl  ran  up  to  me  while  the  rest  held 
back,  and  catching  me  by  the  hand  said:  "You 
belong  me."  The  boatman's  wife,  a  sensible-look- 
ing woman  with  a  pathetic  smile,  was  ill,  he  said; 
we  were  afterward  told  that  she  had  consumption. 
Again  cocoanuts,  and  once  more  we  got  off  with 
"paea."  When  we  left,  the  lady  presented  me 
with  a  large  mat  and  a  fine  hat.  I  had  nothing 
with  me  to  give  in  return,  so  took  the  wreath 
from  my  own  hat  (I  always  wear  one  in  case  of 
an  emergency)  and  also  gave  her  an  orange  (a 
rare  luxury)  I  had  in  my  pocket.  I  afterward  sent 
her  a  piece  of  print  of  the  best  quality.  From  the 

[45] 


The    Cruise    of 

boatman's  we  went  to  the  speak-house,  where  the 
dancers  were  assembled.  As  we  came  out  of  the 
bush  toward  the  main  road  we  heard  a  clapping 
of  hollow  sticks  and  whelp-like  cries;  at  intervals 
a  sentence  was  shouted.  It  was  curfew.  At  eight 
o'clock  several  high  ojSicials  parade  the  street, 
clapping  sticks  together  and  crying  out:  "Remain 
within  your  houses."  No  one  obeys,  but  it  is 
etiquette  to  keep  off  the  main  road  when  the 
officers  march.  We  saw  that  the  people  kept  to 
the  coral  on  either  side,  so  we  did  the  same. 
When  we  first  came  on  shore  this  evening,  Louis, 
seeing  a  little  girl  about  four  carrying  a  naked 
boy,  patted  him  on  the  shoulder;  he  howled, 
whereupon  the  little  girl  laughed  and  ran  away. 
As  we  waited  for  the  procession  to  pass,  the  little 
girl  came  up  behind  Louis  in  the  darkness  and, 
slipping  her  hand  in  his,  nestled  close  to  him. 
Her  name  was  Fani,  also  Etetera;  she  was  neat 
as  a  little  statue,  as  tight  as  india-rubber;  so 
was  her  sister;  so  was  **  Johnny  Bull,"  who  had 
walked  hand  in  hand  with  Louis  all  afternoon.  The 
type  is  well  marked:  forehead  high  and  narrow, 
cheek-bones  high  and  broad,  nose  aquiline  and 
depressed  (the  depression  probably  artificial),  the 
mouth  large,  with  finely  chiselled  lips,  the  bow  of 
the  upper  lip  sharply  defined,  the  eyes,  of  course, 

[46] 


( 


the    ^^  Janet    NichoT* 

admirable;  and  altogether  there  is  a  strong  ap- 
pearance of  good  nature  and  good  sense. 

Part  of  the  night  Louis  had  a  second  satelhte 
in  the  form  of  a  beautiful  boy,  so  that  he  walked 
between  him  and  Fani,  hand  in  hand  with  each; 
but  Fani  was  his  affinity.  The  whole  island  seemed 
interested;  the  King,  not  too  well  pleased,  suffered 
Fani  to  sit  beside  Louis  in  the  speak-house  on  the 
sofa  of  honour  during  the  dance.  Women  came 
up  and  commented  on  the  resemblance  between 
Fani  and  Fanny  and  Etetera  and  Teritera  (Louis's 
Tahitian  name).  On  a  table  in  front  of  us  were 
the  lights — a  half  shell  of  cocoanut-oil  with  a 
twist  of  fibre  swimming  on  top  and  a  glass  bottle 
with  the  same  oil  and  a  wick.  In  the  side  of  the 
bottle  a  round  hole  had  been  ingeniously  cut 
through  the  glass  for  the  convenience  of  cigarette 
smokers.  While  we  were  sitting  there,  waiting  for 
the  dance,  Tin  Jack  came  in  wearing  the  false 
nose  and  wig.  At  first  there  was  a  general  feeling 
of  alarm,  but  most  of  the  people  soon  penetrated 
the  disguise  and  were  greatly  amused.  One  old 
dignitary,  however,  never  discovered  the  jest, 
and  was  very  much  frightened,  asking  me  sev- 
eral times  in  a  trembling  voice  if  it  was  the  white 
man's  devil.  Louis's  Httle  girl  did  not  even  shrink, 
but  looked  up  into  his  face  with  smiling  confidence. 

[47] 


The    Cruise    of 

The  room  was  so  dark  that  we  could  hardly 
see  the  dancers,  so  Louis  and  I  concluded  to  make 
a  few  calls  and  go  back  to  the  ship.  We  had  been 
asked  to  spend  the  night  by  some  people  as  we 
passed  their  house  in  the  afternoon,  so  we  thought 
to  go  there  first.  However,  the  man  who  had  been 
blown  to  Samoa  caught  us  at  the  door  and  would 
have  us  go  to  his  house  first.  By  this  time  all  the 
people  knew  m}^  name  and  were  calling  me  Fanny. 
When  we  thought  we  had  done  our  duty  by  the 
mariner  we  said  we  must  now  visit  the  people 
who  had  asked  us  to  sleep  in  their  house;  the  man 
offered  to  guide  us  there,  but  instead  took  us  to 
the  house  where  Fani  belonged.  It  was  a  very 
large  house  and  the  people  seemed  to  be  all 
asleep;  but  in  a  moment  they  were  broad  awake 
and  in  a  state  of  lively  excitement,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  one  very  old  man  who  remained  \y'mg 
in  his  bed  and  yawned  drearil)^  Louis  tried  con- 
versing in  a  melange  of  Samoan  and  Tahitian, 
with  appreciable  success.  We  drank  cocoanuts 
until  we  were  "paea,"  and  rose  to  go.  A  large  fish 
was  laid  at  our  feet  in  a  plaited  basket,  then  taken 
up  and  carried  to  our  boat.  This  was  a  handsome 
present,  as  fish  is  a  great  rarity.  Fani's  father 
followed  me  with  an  immense  number  of  large 
sponges  tied  on  a  long  pole.  We  were  again  haled 

[48] 


the    ^^ Janet   NichoV^ 

away  from  our  destination,  this  time  by  the  boat- 
man, who  took  us  back  to  his  house,  waking,  I 
fear,  his  sick  wife,  who,  however,  was  all  smiles. 
Pleaded  "paea"  and  turned  our  faces  toward  the 
boat,  having  given  up  our  first  intention  in  despair. 
On  the  road  we  passed  the  schoolhouse  com- 
pound where  a  double  row  of  people  were  singing 
and  dancing.  The  men  were  squatted  on  their 
haunches  on  one  side  of  the  path,  the  women  on 
the  other;  down  the  centre  an  oldish,  very  re- 
spectable-looking man,  with  the  appearance  of  a 
deacon,  directed  the  dance,  a  staff  in  his  hand. 
We  were  received  with  shouts  of  welcome  and  a 
bench  set  out  for  us.  I  was  envious  of  the  big 
town  drum,  made  of  hollowed  cocoanut  wood  and 
covered  with  shark  skin,  very  like  one  I  had  al- 
ready got  from  the  Marquesas,  and  deputed  the 
trader  to  buy  it  for  me.  With  the  arrival  of  Mr. 
Henderson,  who  came  sauntering  down  the  road, 
the  deacon  heartened  up  to  a  sort  of  frenzy, 
suddenly  bounding  along  the  path  and  throwing 
his  body  and  legs  about  with  the  most  grotesque 
and  mirth-provoking  contortions.  We  sat  here  yet 
awhile,  and  at  last  tore  ourselves  away  from 
the  most  charming  low  island  we  have  yet  seen, 
Fani's  father  still  following  with  the  sponges.  I 
sent  back,  by  the  boatman,  a  piece  of  print  for 

[49] 


The    Cruise    of 


Fani,  sufficient  to  make  a  gown  for  her  mother 
as  well  as  herself.  It  was  the  correct  thing  to  do 
from  the  island  point  of  etiquette,  but  all  the  same 
a  pity,  for  the  less  Fani  covered  her  pretty  brown 
body  the  better  she  looked. 

yth. — Fani,  her  papa  and  her  sister,  first  thing 
in  the  morning  with  a  basket  of  green  cocoanuts 
and  three  packets  of  dyed  pandanus  leaves. 
Fani  at  once  possessed  herself  of  one  of  Louis's 
hands,  the  sister  the  other,  w^hile  the  lovely 
"Johnny  Bull,"  who  was  on  board  almost  as  soon 
as  they  were,  hovered  about  smiling,  and  when 
he  saw  a  chance  slipped  an  arm  round  Louis's 
neck.  Johnny  Bull  was  a  tall  lad  of  fifteen,  and  I 
was  told  a  half-caste,  though  he  did  not  look  it. 
Louis,  having  been  taken  up  by  Fani,  was  con- 
sidered quite  one  of  the  family.  It  is  easy  to  see 
how  the  copra  eaters  came  by  their  "billets," 
and  how  decently  whites  must  have  behaved  here, 
that  this  little  creature  should  have  come  up  to 
Louis  in  the  dark  as  naturally  as  a  child  to  its 
mother.  The  sisters  stayed  by  him  until  the  whistle 
sounded.  They  were  thoroughly  well-behaved, 
obedient  children,  neither  shy  nor  forward.  No 
doubt  Louis  could  have  eaten  copra  from  that 
day  forth  at  the  father's  expense. 

One  of  the  beach-combers  was  wrecked  on  Star- 

[50] 


the    ^^ Janet    NichoV^ 

buck  Island,  his  ship  the  Garston;  he  lost  all  he 
possessed,  and  says  he  is  passionately  eager  to 
get  away  and  very  sick  of  living  on  cocoanuts; 
and  yet,  when  oflFered  a  chance  to  work  his  way 
home  on  the  Janet,  he  asked  anxiously  if  it  were 
a  "soft  job,"  refusing  any  other.  Louis  gave  him 
the  better  part  of  a  tin  of  tobacco,  but  he  got  very 
little  good  from  it.  The  hands  of  the  natives  who 
had  adopted  him  were  stretched  out  on  every  side, 
and  one  cigarette  was  his  sole  portion. 

Have  gone  to  another  station  on  the  same 
island,  a  very  bad  landing,  so  Lloyd  and  I  con- 
cluded to  remain  on  the  ship,  but  Louis,  more 
venturesome,  went  on  shore  with  Mr.  Hird. 
They  were  nearly  pitched  into  the  water  as  the 
boat  struck  on  her  side  on  the  reef.  The  black 
boys  all  went,  with  the  seas  breaking  over  them, 
to  shove  her  off.  The  town  is  described  as  most 
delightful;  very  neat,  with  one  straight,  sanded 
thoroughfare  bordered  by  curbstones;  the  houses 
with  verandas,  some  of  the  verandas  with  carved 
balustrades.  The  heat  is  very  great.  Louis  sat  on 
the  sofa  in  the  missionary's  house,  the  boat's 
crew  lying  on  the  floor  and  being  fed  with  dried 
clams  strung  on  cocoanut-fibre  sennit.  At  the 
same  time  they  were  interviewed  by  the  mis- 
sionary   himself,    a    fine,   bluff,    rugged,    grizzled 

[51] 


The    Cruise    of 

Raratongan,  universally  respected.  Two  old  men 
asked  for  the  news,  giving  theirs  in  return,  their 
latest  being  that  Tahiti  had  been  taken  by  the 
French;  they  added  a  rider  that  the  French  were 
"humbug,"  which  was  refreshingly  British.  "One 
white  man  he  say  Queen  he  dead?"  queried  one 
man  anxiously.  They  were  assured  that  it  was  the 
Queen  of  German)'',  and  not  Victoria.  "Me- 
thought,"  said  Louis,  "in  petto,  it  was  perhaps 
Queen  Anne."  They  are  all  well  up  in  the  royal 
family,  and  most  loyal  subjects,  the  island  flying 
the  Union  Jack.  The  only  "white  man"  in  the  set- 
tlement was  a  Chinaman,  dying  for  curry-pow- 
der. It  seemed  impossible  to  get  away  without 
carrying  half  the  settlement  with  us,  and  even 
after  we  thought  they  were  all  off,  two  young  girls 
and  a  boy  were  discovered  trying  to  stow  away. 
We  returned  to  the  first  landing  yet  again,  but 
by  that  time  I  was  sound  asleep. 

^th. — Sighted  Penrhyn  at  five  o'clock,  but  did 
not  attempt  to  go  in  as  it  is  an  exceedingly  danger- 
ous passage,  and  the  night  was  black,  with  heavy 
squalls.  Lloyd  and  I  had  to  leave  our  sleeping 
place  on  the  after  hatch  and  take  refuge  in  the 
trade  room  where  we  slept  on  the  floor.  In  the 
morning  I  went  to  look  up  my  wet  pillows  and 
mats.  Suddenly  I  heard  a  shout:  "Mrs.  Stevenson, 

[52] 


the    ^  ^  J  an  et    N  ichoV  ^ 

don't  move!"  I  stopped  short,  hardly  moving  an 
eyelash,  but  curious  to  know  the  reason  of  this 
command.  I  soon  found  out;  the  captain  threw  up 
one  corner  of  a  large  tarpaulin  showing  me  the 
open  hatch  on  the  brink  of  which  I  was  standing. 
On  the  last  voyage  a  seaman  was  terribly  injured 
by  falling  down  the  fore-hatch.  He  lay  two  hours 
insensible  before  he  was  reported  missing  and  a 
search  made. 

c)ih. — We  enter  the  lagoon  very  early  in  the 
morning;  a  most  perilous  passage,  the  way  through 
the  reef  seeming  but  little  wider  than  the  ship 
itself;  the  captain  calls  it  two  ship  widths.  Our 
route,  until  we  dropped  anchor,  was  studded  with 
"horses'  heads"  as  thick  as  raisins  in  a  pudding. 
There  would  be  a  rock  just  awash  on  either  side 
of  us,  a  rock  in  front  almost  touching  our  bows, 
and  a  rock  we  had  successfully  passed  just  be- 
hind us.  We  were  all  greatly  excited  and  filled 
with  admiration  for  the  beautiful  way  Captain 
Henry  managed  his  ship.  She  would  twist  to  the 
right,  to  the  left,  dash  forward — now  fast,  now 
slow — like  a  performing  horse  doing  its  tricks. 
The  native  pilot  was  on  the  masthead  nearly 
mad  with  anxiety.  It  was  the  first  he  had  had  to 
do  with  a  steamer,  and  he  was  convinced  that 
the  Janet  was  on  the  point  of  destruction  every 

[S3] 


The    Cruise    of 

moment.  At  last,  quite  worn  out  with  such  breath- 
less excitement,  we  came  safely  to  anchor  in  front 
of  the  village,  a  cluster  of  native  houses  gathered 
together  on  a  narrow  spit  of  land,  or  rather  coral. 
A  big  wave,  a  short  time  ago,  washed  over  the 
village  from  sea  to  sea.  Our  men  are  working  hard 
getting  out  the  boxes  for  the  shell  we  are  to  take 
in,  and  the  mates  are  making  new  boxes,  hurry- 
ing as  fast  as  their  natures  allow.  There  is  quite 
a  fleet  of  pearling  boats  hanging  about.  One  has 
just  come  in  filled  with  natives;  the  colours  are 
enchanting:  the  opaline  sea,  the  reds  and  blues  of 
the  men's  clothing,  running  from  the  brightest  to 
the  darkest  shades,  the  yellow  boats  wreathed 
with  greenery,  the  lovely  browns  of  the  native 
skin,  with  the  brilliant  sun  and  the  luminous 
shadows.  Boys  are  already  swimming  out  to  the 
ship,  resting  on  planks  (bits  of  wreckage),  their 
clothes,  tied  in  a  bundle  and  hanging  over  their 
heads,  dependent  from  sticks.  I  can  hear  the 
voices  of  the  girls  and  the  clapping  of  their  hands 
as  they  sing  and  dance  on  the  beach.  I  see  a  man 
hurrying  along  a  path,  a  little  child  with  him  and 
their  black  pig  following  like  a  terrier.  Sometimes 
piggy  stops  a  moment  to  smell  or  root  at  the  foot 
of  a  palm,  but  always  with  a  glance  over  his  shoul- 
der; if  the  distance  seems  growing  too  wide  be- 

[54] 


the    ^^  Janet    N  ichoV  ^ 

tween  himself  and  his  family,  he  rushes  after 
them,  and  for  a  moment  or  two  trots  soberly  at 
his  master's  side. 

After  luncheon  we  went  over  to  the  village  in 
one  of  the  boats  going  for  shell,  landing  at  the 
white  trader's  house.  From  the  first,  I  had  been 
puzzled  by  a  strange  figure  on  the  trader's  ve- 
randa. When  we  were  nearer  I  discovered  it  to 
be  the  figurehead  of  a  wrecked  ship,  a  very 
haughty  lady  in  a  magnificent  costume.  She  held 
her  head  proudly  in  the  air  and  had  a  fine,  hooked 
nose.  All  about  the  trader's  house  were  great 
piles  of  timber,  and  in  one  of  the  rooms  a  piano 
woefully  out  of  tune,  and  other  signs  of  the  wreck 
of  a  big  ship.  It  was  a  timber  vessel,  they  told 
us,  this  last  one,  that  went  to  pieces  just  outside 
the  reef.  Numbers  of  houses  are  being  built  of  the 
boards  by  the  more  thrifty-minded  of  the  island- 
ers. One  of  the  sailors  cast  ashore  still  remains 
here,  a  gentle,  soft-eyed  youth  from  Edinburgh, 
now  fairly  on  the  way  to  become  a  beach-comber. 
Fortunate  lad!  His  future  is  assured;  no  more  hard 
work,  no  more  nipping  frosts  and  chilly  winds; 
he  will  live  and  die  in  dreamland,  beloved  and 
honoured  and  tenderly  cared  for  all  the  summer 
days  of  his  life.  He  already  speaks  the  native 
tongue,  not  only  fluentl}^,  but  in  the  genteelest 

[S5l 


The    Cruise    of 

native  manner,  raising  and  lowering  his  eyebrows 
in  the  most  approved  fashion  as  he  whispers  to 
the  elderly  dames  matter  that  is  no  doubt  better 
left  untranslated. 

When  the  figurehead  came  ashore  people  were 
terribly  alarmed  by  the  appearance  of  the  "white 
lady."  The  children  are  still  frightened  into  sub- 
mission by  threats  of  being  handed  over  to  her. 
The  trader's  wife  is  a  Manihiki  woman,  very  neat 
and  well-mannered;  we  drank  cocoanuts  with  her, 
and  were  introduced  to  the  native  missionary's 
daughter,  an  enormously  large,  fat  girl  of  thirteen, 
but  looking  twenty.  I  believe  her  parents  are  from 
another  island.  Lloyd  photographed  the  proud 
lady  with  a  lot  of  children  and  girls  grouped  round 
her,  the  soft-eyed  Scot  familiarly  leaning  against 
her  shoulder.  The  girls  went  through  an  elaborate 
affectation  of  terror  and  had  to  be  caught  and 
dragged  to  the  place,  whence,  I  believe,  nothing 
could  have  dislodged  them.  After  this  photog- 
raphy was  finished  we  wandered  through  the 
village,  a  large  chattering  crowd  at  our  heels. 
This  is  the  least  prepossessing  population  I  have 
seen  since  Mariki,  and  I  am  assured  they  are  no 
better  than  they  look.  As  we  walked  along  I  hap- 
pened to  pick  up  a  pretty  little  shell  from  the 
beach;   the   missionary's   fat   daughter   instantly 

[56] 


the    ^  ^  J  an  et    N  i  chol  ' ' 

gathered  and  pressed  upon  me  four  other  shells, 
but  as  I  held  them  in  my  hand  living  claws  pro- 
jected from  inside  and  pinched  me  so  that  I  cried 
out  in  alarm  and  threw  them  to  the  ground. 
Every  one  laughed,  naturally,  but  an  impudent 
young  man  picked  up  and  offered  me  a  worn 
aperculum,  saying  with  a  grin:  "Buy;  one  pearl." 
**I  could  not,"  I  assured  him  with  mock  courtes}", 
"deprive  you  of  so  valuable  an  ornament;  tie  it 
round  your  neck."  This  feeble  jest  seemed  to  be 
understood  and  was  greeted  with  shouts  of 
laughter.  The  lad  was  cast  down  for  a  moment, 
and  fell  behind;  pretty  soon  he  came  forward 
again,  with  a  dog's  bone.  "Buy,"  he  said;  "very 
good;  twenty  pounds."  "I  could  not,"  I  returned, 
"take  from  you  a  weapon  so  suitable  to  your 
courage."  Of  course  I  used  pantomime  as  well  as 
speech.  The  other  young  men,  with  shrieks  of 
laughter,  pretended  to  be  terrified  by  his  war- 
like appearance,  and  he  shrank  away  to  annoy 
me  no  further.  Several  men  and  women  offered 
us  very  inferior  pearls  at  the  most  preposterous 
prices,  at  which  Tin  Jack  and  I  jeered  them,  when 
the  pearls  were  hidden  shamefacedly.  They  knew 
as  well  as  we  that  their  wares  were  worthless. 

Lloyd  and  Louis  planted  their  camera  stand  in 
the  centre  of  the  village,   and  walked   about  to 

[57] 


The    Cruise    of 

look  for  good  points  of  view.  While  they  were 
away  a  serious-looking  man  delivered  a  lecture 
upon  the  apparatus,  to  the  evident  edification 
and  wonder  of  the  crowd.  During  his  explanation 
he  mimicked  both  Louis's  and  Lloyd's  walk,  show- 
ing how  Lloyd  carried  the  camera,  while  Louis 
walked  about  looking  round  him.  I  sat  down  on 
a  log  to  wait,  when  immediately  all  the  women 
and  girls  seated  themselves  on  the  ground,  mak- 
ing me  the  centre  of  a  half  circle  and  gazing  at 
me  with  hard,  round  eyes. 

After  the  photography  Louis  and  I  went  to  call 
on  the  missionary.  He  and  his  wife  were  at  home, 
evidently  expecting  us.  His  wife  is  enormously 
stout,  with  small  features  and  an  unpleasant  ex- 
pression; the  man  rather  sensible  and  superior- 
looking.  A  number  of  women  and  the  pilot  who 
had  brought  us  into  the  lagoon  ranged  themselves 
on  the  floor  in  front  of  us.  One  of  the  ladies,  a 
plain  body,  seeming  more  intelligent  than  the 
rest,  possessed  a  countenance  capable  of  express- 
ing more  indignation  than  one  would  think  pos- 
sible. She  wished  to  have  our  relationship  explained 
to  her.  Louis  and  I  were  husband  and  wife;  this 
statement  was  received  with  a  cry  of  anger,  but 
at  the  announcement  that  Lloyd  was  our  son,  she 
fairly  howled;  even  Lloyd's  name  seemed  objec- 

[58] 


the    ''Janet   Nichol'* 

tionable.  About  mine  there  was  a  good  deal  of 
discussion,  as  they  appeared  to  have  heard  it  be- 
fore. We  drank  cocoanuts  under  the  disapproving 
eye  of  the  intelHgent  lady,  and,  after  receiving  as 
a  present  a  pearl-shell  with  a  coral  growth  on  its 
side  from  the  missionary's  wife,  and  another, 
somewhat  battered,  from  his  daughter,  I  gave,  in 
return,  the  wreath  from  my  hat  and  we  departed. 
Louis  and  Lloyd  went  back  to  the  ship,  but  I 
remained,  with  Tin  Jack,  to  see  the  church.  All 
but  three  little  girls  were  too  lazy  to  show  us  the 
way;  so,  accompanied  by  the  trio,  we  started  on 
a  broad  path  of  loose,  drifting  coral  sand.  The 
church  was  a  good,  substantial  structure  of  white 
coral,  with  benches  and  Bible  rests,  but  there  was 
no  attempt  at  decoration.  The  room  was  large 
enough  to  hold  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  village 
twice  over.  As  in  most  of  the  other  islands,  being 
"missionary" — religious — goes  by  waves  of  fash- 
ion. In  Penrhyn,  at  any  moment,  the  congrega- 
tion may  turn  on  the  pastor  and  tell  him  he  must 
leave  instantly,  as  they  are  tired  of  being  mission- 
ary. They  have  the  "week  of  jubilee,"  which 
means  the  whole  island  goes  on  a  gigantic  "spree," 
when  Penrhyn  is  not  a  pleasant,  or  hardly  a  safe, 
abiding-place.  We  stopped  at  the  schoolhouse  on 
the  way  back,  a  large,  ill-smelling  room,  contain- 

[59] 


The    Cruise    of 

ing  for  furniture  one  table  with  pearl-shell  disks 
let  into  the  legs,  standing  on  a  dais.  The  only  really 
neat  house  was  the  trader's,  and  he  had  a  Mani- 
hikian  wife. 

The  laws  of  Penrhyn,  some  of  them  very  com- 
ical, are  stringently  enforced.  There  is  no  non- 
sense about  "remain  within  your  houses"  here, 
for,  after  nine  o'clock,  remain  you  must.  Last 
night  our  cook  was  shut  into  a  house  where  he 
was  paying  a  visit,  and  was  not  allowed  out  until 
after  the  breakfast  hour.  There  was  also  a  rumour 
that  Tin  Jack,  being  seen  after  curfew,  had  to 
run,  the  police  after  him,  to  the  house  of  the 
trader,  where  he  remained  until  morning.  Our 
sailors,  to-day,  somehow  offended  the  natives 
and  came  running  back  to  the  ship  pursued  by  a 
crowd.  The  children  are  much  more  prepossessing 
than  their  parents,  some  of  them,  especially  the 
little  girls,  being  quite  pretty  and  well-behaved. 
It  is  much  easier  to  restrain  them  and  keep  them 
within  bounds  than  if  they  were  white  children 
in  similar  case.  Every  scrap  of  orange-peel  thrown 
overboard  was  gathered  up  by  them  to  be  con- 
verted into  ornaments.  A  bit  of  peel  cut  into  the 
shape  of  a  star,  with  a  hole  in  the  centre  for  the 
purpose,  would  be  drawn  over  the  buttons  of  their 
shirts  and  gowns,  while  long  strings  were  worn 

[60] 


the    ''Janet    N i cho  I  ' ' 

hanging  over  the  breast,  or  twined  round  the  head 
and  neck.  The  trader's  httle  half-caste  boy  was 
clad  in  the  tiniest  imaginable  pair  of  blue  jeans, 
with  a  pink  cotton  shirt,  and  had  little  gold  ear- 
rings in  his  ears. 

loth. — None  of  our  party  cared  to  go  on  shore. 
I  sent  a  chromo  representing  a  "domestic  scene" 
to  the  trader's  wife  in  return  for  her  present  of  a 
coral-grown  shell.  The  shell  I  afterward  gave  to 
the  cook  and  another  to  the  second  steward,  who, 
by  this  time,  was  almost  insane  with  excitement 
and  pleasure.  We  had  a  very  busy  day  receiving 
shell  and  packing  it  in  the  wooden  cases  that  are 
still  being  made  on  the  forward  deck.  The  black 
sailors  work  extraordinarily  well  and  with  per- 
fect willingness  and  good  nature.  They  make 
play  of  everything,  and  in  spite  of  their  small 
stature  and  slender,  elegant  figures,  handle  great 
weights  with  the  utmost  ease  and  dexterity.  The 
little  native  boys  work  as  hard  as  any  in  help- 
ing pack  the  shell.  One  little  naked  fellow  of 
about  ten,  I  was  told,  was  deaf  and  dumb,  but  I 
should  never  have  guessed  it. 

As  soon  as  there  was  a  movement  on  the  ship 
the  young  girls  came  swimming  out  to  us  like  a 
shoal  of  fish.  The  sea  was  dotted  with  the  black 
heads  over  which  they  held  their  parcel  of  clothes 

[6i] 


The    Cruise    of 

in  one  hand  to  keep  them  dry,  making  their 
toilets  on  the  lower  rungs  of  the  ship's  ladder. 
One  girl  would  stand  at  the  foot  of  the  ladder 
where  she  received  the  clothes  of  the  newcomer; 
as  the  latter  emerged  dripping  from  the  sea  her 
garment  was  dexterously  dropped  over  her  head, 
so  that  she  rose  with  the  utmost  decorum  fully 
clad. 

Louis  soon  had  his  particular  following,  some 
three  or  four  little  girls  eight  or  ten  years  of  age. 
They  made  him  sit  down  and  then  sang  to  him. 
One  of  these  children  must  have  been  the  daughter 
of  the  indignant  lady  we  met  at  the  missionary's 
house,  for  her  powers  of  expression  were  the  same. 
She  was,  however,  pleased  to  signify  approval  of 
Loia  (Lloyd).  If  Louis  attempted  to  leave  these 
small  sirens  he  was  peremptorily  ordered  to  re- 
sume his  seat,  and  the  singing  redoubled  in  vigour. 
They  had  shrill  voices  and  sang  not  badly.  Louis 
bought  a  tin  of  ''lollies"  from  the  trade  room 
and  regaled  his  little  maids  on  that  and  plug 
tobacco.  Oranges  and  biscuits  were  given  to  the 
people  quite  freely,  and  the  leavings  from  our 
table  were  continually  passing  about.  The  cook 
said  the  contents  of  the  swill-pail  were  eaten  clean, 
pumpkin  rinds  being  a  favourite  morsel.  Except 
for  the  "lollies,"  the  little  girls  generously  divided 

[62] 


the    ^^  Janet    Nichol*' 

with  their  friends,  but  the  boys  were  more  selfish. 
One  Httle  fellow  who  had  secured  a  whole  pumpkin 
rind  ran  about  the  deck  with  a  wolfish  terror, 
trying  to  find  a  hiding-place  where  he  could  de- 
vour his  prize  safe  from  the  importunities  of  his 
mates. 

Tin  Jack,  without  my  knowledge  (I  should  have 
stopped  him  had  I  known)  donned  the  wig  and 
beard  and  false  nose;  his  appearance  created  a 
real  panic.  One  girl  was  with  difficulty  restrained 
from  jumping  overboard  from  the  high  deck,  and 
many  were  screaming  and  rushing  about,  their 
eyes  starting  with  terror;  Louis's  little  girls  ran  to 
him  and  me  and  clung  to  us.  A  fine,  tall  young 
woman  kept  up  a  bold  front  until  Tin  Jack  took 
hold  of  her,  when  she  slipped  through  his  hands, 
a  limp  heap  on  the  deck.  I  tried  in  vain  to  get  near 
him  to  make  him  cease  with  his  cruel  jest,  but  he 
was  running  among  the  frightened  crowd,  and 
I  could  not  make  him  hear  me  through  the  con- 
fusion and  noise.  The  girl  who  tried  to  jump  over- 
board collapsed  among  some  bags  on  top  of  the 
shell,  where,  covering  her  face,  she  wept  aloud. 
I  climbed  over  to  her  and  soothed  her,  and  tried 
to  explain  that  it  was  not  the  devil  but  only  Tin 
Jack  with  a  mask.  The  children  were  the  first  to 
recover  from  their  terror,   soon  recognising  Tin 

[63] 


The    Ci'uise    of 

Jack,  either  from  his  voice,  or  his  walk,  or  some- 
thing that  marked  his  individuahty,  for  in  the 
afternoon  they  returned  to  the  ship,  fetching  other 
children,  and  boldly  demanded  that  these,  too, 
should  be  shown  the  foreign  devil.  All  evil  spirits, 
and  there  are  many  in  Penrhyn,  are  called  devils. 
Speaking  about  the  superstitions  of  Penrhyn, 
Mr.  Hird  recalls  the  following  grisly  incident  that 
occurred  when  he  was  stopping  on  the  island.  A 
man  who  was  paralysed  on  one  side  had  a  convul- 
sion which  caused  spasmodic  contractions  on  the 
other  side.  One  of  the  sick  man's  family  began  at 
once  to  make  a  coffin.  "But  the  man's  not  dead," 
said  Mr.  Hird.  "Oh  yes,"  was  the  reply;  "he's 
dead  enough;  it's  the  third  time  he  has  done  this, 
so  we  are  going  to  bury  him."  Mr.  Hird  went  to 
the  native  missionary,  but  his  remonstrances  had 
no  effect;  he  kept  on  protesting  until  the  last 
moment.  "Why  look,"  he  said,  "the  man's  limbs 
are  quivering."  "Oh  that's  only  live  flesh,"  was 
the  reply,  and  some  one  fell  to  pommelling  the 
poor  wretch  to  quiet  the  "live  flesh."  The  belief 
was  that  the  man's  spirit  had  departed  long  before 
and  a  devil  who  wished  to  use  the  body  for  his 
own  convenience  had  been  keeping  the  flesh  alive. 
Mr.  Hird  thinks  that  the  man  was  insensible 
when  buried  and  must  soon  have  died. 

[64] 


I 


^ 


the    ^^  Janet    Nichol 


At  another  time  some  natives  had  been  "wak- 
ing" a  corpse;  tired  out,  they  all  fell  asleep  ex- 
cept a  single  man  who  acted  as  "watcher."  By 
and  by  he,  too,  dropped  off.  The  party  were 
awakened  by  a  great  noise.  The  watcher  explained 
that  he  had  been  napping  and  suddenly  opened 
his  eyes  to  behold  the  dead  man  sitting  up.  "A 
corpse  sitting  up  just  like  this!"  he  exclaimed 
indignantly;  "but  I  was  equal  to  him;  I  ran  at 
him  and  knocked  him  down,  and  now  he's  de- 
cently quiet  again."  And  so  he  was,  dead  as  a 
door-nail  from  the  blow  he  had  received. 

Another  thing  Mr.  Hird  saw  in  Penrhyn.  A 
very  excellent  man,  but  a  strict  disciplinarian, 
died  and  his  family  were  sore  troubled  by  the 
appearance  of  his  ghost.  They  had  suffered  enough 
from  his  severity  during  his  lifetime,  and  were 
terrified  lest  his  spirit  had  returned  to  keep  them 
up  to  the  standard  he  had  marked  out  for  them. 
The  day  after  the  apparition  was  seen,  the  grave 
was  opened,  the  body  taken  out,  and  the  hole 
deepened  till  they  came  to  water;  the  corpse  was 
then  turned  over  in  the  coffin  and  reburied  face 
down. 

At  about  five  o'clock  we  weighed  anchor  and 
went  through  the  exciting  ordeal  of  the  passage 
out  of  the  lagoon,  taking  with  us  as  passengers 

[65] 


The    Cruise    of 

to  Manihiki  a  woman  and  her  two  children. 
After  we  were  quite  away,  outside  the  lagoon,  a 
boat  came  after  us  with  a  quantity  of  timber 
from  the  wreck;  this  extra  and  unexpected  work 
of  taking  the  timber  on  board  and  stowing  it 
away,  instead  of  being  received  with  grumbling 
by  our  black  boys,  was  taken  as  gleefully  as 
though  it  were  a  pleasant  game  of  their  own 
choosing. 

The  passengers  slept  on  the  after  hatch  with  us. 
The  baby  cried  in  the  night,  and  the  mother 
quieted  it  by  clapping  her  hands,  yawning,  mean- 
while, with  a  great  noise  like  the  snarling  of  a 
wild  beast;  consequently  I  did  not  sleep  well.  For 
the  first  time  the  wind  is  aft  and  the  ship  very 
airless  and  close. 

nth. — The  captain's  eyes,  which  have  been 
dreadfully  inflamed,  are  much  better,  thanks  to 
an  eye  lotion  from  Swan,  the  chemist  at  Fiji, 
that  we  had  in  our  medicine-chest. 

In  the  evening,  about  nine,  we  made  Manihiki. 
Mr.  Henderson  burned  a  blue  light  which  was 
answered  by  bonfires  on  shore.  We  did  not  anchor, 
but  lay  off  and  on,  as  we  were  only  to  stay  long 
enough  to  land  our  passengers.  Louis  wished  to 
go  on  shore  with  the  boat,  but  as  it  did  not  get 
off  until  ten  he  gave  it  up  and  went  to  bed.  I 

[66] 


the    ^^  Janet    NichoT* 

made  up  a  little  parcel  for  him  to  send  to  Fani, 
and  Mr.  Hird  carried  it  to  her,  a  few  sweeties 
carefully  folded  up  in  a  Japanese  paper  napkin 
and  tied  with  a  bright-green  ribbon.  The  child  was 
in  bed  and  asleep,  but  waked  to  receive  her  parcel 
which  she  resolutely  declined  to  open  until  the 
next  day,  though  earnestly  persuaded  by  the  whole 
family  to  let  them  have  a  peep  inside.  She  ap- 
pealed to  Mr.  Hird,  who  upheld  her  decision,  so 
she  returned  to  her  mat  and  fell  asleep  holding 
her  present  in  her  hands. 

I  am  trying  to  paint  a  small  portrait  of  Tin 
Jack,  who  is  a  beautiful  creature,  but  during  the 
reluctant  moments  he  poses  he  sits  with  his  back 
toward  me,  his  eye  fixed  on  the  clock,  counting 
the  minutes  until  his  release.  We  took  from  the 
island  a  man,  woman,  and  boy  for  Suwarrow,  our 
next  stopping-place.  Mr.  Hird  had  a  singular 
dream,  or  rather  vision,  of  the  white  trader  in 
Suwarrow  lying  dead  and  ready  for  burial.  He 
was  so  impressed  by  this  that  he  took  note  of  the 
time  and  feels  very  anxious. 

13/A. — I  awoke  at  six,  after  a  night's  struggle 
with  my  mats,  which  the  wind  nearly  wrested 
from  me  several  times,  to  find  we  are  just  off 
Suwarrow.  At  breakfast  Captain  Henry  presented 
me  with  a  gorgeous  hibiscus  flower  and  Mr.  Hen- 


The    Cruise    of 

derson  laid  beside  my  plate  a  couple  of  bananas 
and  a  vi-apple,  products  of  the  island.  At  pres- 
ent there  are  only  six  people  living  on  Suwarrow; 
our  three  passengers,  counting  the  boy,  will  make 
nine. 

I  went  on  deck  to  look  at  the  island  and  was 
told  that  the  flag  was  at  half-mast.  Sure  enough, 
the  trader  was  dead;  the  date  of  his  death  tallied 
with  that  of  Mr.  Hird's  vision.  The  poor  fellow 
was  most  anxious  to  be  reheved  the  last  time  the 
ship  was  here,  wherefore  one  of  the  native  pas- 
sengers was  brought  to  take  his  place.  A  neat 
white  paling  fence  enclosed  the  grave.  I  asked 
from  what  disease  he  died.  "Sickness  in  here," 
was  the  answer,  indicating  the  liver;  "a  long  time 
he  no  stand  up;  all  the  time  lie  down.  Pain — cry 
out — cry  out — then  die." 

Suwarrow  and  its  attendant  isles  have  been 
planted  in  cocoanuts  by  Mr.  Henderson.  A  few 
pandanus  are  here  and  there  and  more  varieties 
of  small  weeds  than  is  usual  in  low  islands.  There 
is,  also,  a  great  deal  of  fine,  feathery  grass,  worth- 
less, unfortunately,  for  feeding  animals.  Mr.  Hen- 
derson tried  goats  upon  it,  and  sheep,  also,  I 
believe;  they  ate  the  grass  greedily  but  did  not 
thrive,  and  soon  dwindled  and  died.  It  was  found, 
on  examination,  that  the  grass  did  not  digest  but 

[68] 


the    ''Janet    N ichoT  * 

remained  in  balls  in  the  intestines.  The  cocoanuts, 
though  most  of  them  were  planted  eight  years 
ago,  do  not  bear  very  heavily;  Mr.  Henderson 
thinks  they  were  not  planted  deep  enough.  He 
says  they  should  be  planted  four  feet  under  the 
soil,  the  sprouts  being  about  five  feet  high.  Ba- 
nanas planted  in  imported  earth  are  growing  well, 
and  some  have  taken  kindly  to  the  native  soil; 
also  chilli  peppers  from  the  high  islands.  Vi-trees 
are  in  full  bearing,  the  hibiscus  is  gaudy  with 
blossoms,  and  cotton-plants,  not  indigenous,  but 
now  become  wild,  flourish  luxuriantly. 

Suwarrow  at  some  former  period  must  have 
been  a  thriving  and  important  settlement.  One 
has  the  feeling  that  stirring  events  have  happened 
here  and  that  its  history  should  be  wild  and  ro- 
mantic. At  present  it  is  very  like  the  desert  strong- 
hold of  a  pirate.  The  pier  is  a  very  fine  one  and 
must  have  cost  much  money  and  labour;  a  num- 
ber of  houses  are  clustered  near  it,  giving  at  first 
sight  the  impression  of  a  village;  there  are  beacons 
to  guide  the  mariner  and  a  "lookout"  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  island.  Turtles  are  caught 
occasionally,  and  large  crabs  and  excellent  fish. 
There  are  also  birds,  very  good  eating,  and  in  the 
season  innumerable  eggs  of  a  fine  flavour  may  be 
gathered.  One  bird,  no  larger  than  a  dove,  lays 

[69] 


The    Cruise    of 

an  egg  as  big  as  a  hen's,  out  of  all  proportion  to 
her  size. 

I  first  walked  over  to  the  weather  side;  here  I 
found  it  delightfully  cool,  but  the  tide  was  high, 
forcing  me  to  the  shingle,  so  I  returned,  marking 
on  the  way  a  fine,  clear  pool  where  I  mean  to  have 
a  bath  to-morrow.  The  room  where  I  am  writing 
looks  as  though  it  were  meant  for  a  church  or  a 
schoolhouse;  but  of  course  that  is  only  conjecture. 
It  is  a  large  room,  long  and  narrow,  with  double 
doors  at  each  side,  a  single  door  at  one  end,  and 
four  unglazed  windows.  The  windows  are  pro- 
tected by  foot-wide  slats  arranged  to  move  up  and 
down  hke  Venetian  blinds;  both  doors  and  slats 
are  painted  green.  The  roof,  open  to  the  peak,  is 
neatly  thatched  with  either  pandanus  or  cocoanut 
leaves,  I  am  not  sure  which.  A  table,  originally 
very  sturdy,  but  now  fallen  into  the  rickets, 
holds  the  dead  man's  books:  "Chetwynd  Cal- 
verly"  by  W.  Harrison  Ainsworth,  "The  Mystery 
of  Orcival,"  by  Gaboriau,  and  an  advertisement 
book  about  next  of  kin.  Behind  the  table  is  a 
cotton-gin,  the  "Magnolia,"  with  a  picture  of 
the  flower  indifferently  well  done  on  its  front.  I 
sat  awhile  on  one  of  the  two  wooden  benches 
that  help  furnish  the  room  and  studied  the  walls, 
over  which   are  scrawled  names:    Etelea,  Mite- 

[70] 


the    ^^  Janet    N ichoV  ' 

mago,  SavitI,  Patawe,  Polohiu,  Atolioinine,  Salhisi, 
Kari,  Fuehau,  Laku,  Mitima,  Paopave,  Munokoa, 
and  many  others. 

In  another  large  house  of  a  single  room,  roofed 
with  corrugated  iron,  I  found  all  sorts  of  treasure- 
trove  from  vessels  that  had  been  wrecked  on  Su- 
warrow.  Piled  up  in  one  end  of  the  house  are 
ship's  blocks,  oakum,  strange,  antiquated  fire- 
arms, iron  parts  of  a  ship,  and  the  two  stairs  of 
her  companionway.  There  is  a  single  oar,  and  a 
tool-chest  with  rope  handles  at  either  end,  the 
word  Sweden  on  it,  and  the  top  covered  with 
canvas;  an  iron  gate,  two  steering-wheels,  a  winch, 
a  copper  blubber  dipper  green  with  verdigris,  the 
handle  of  wood  and  iron;  two  life-preservers,  one 
marked  Levi  Stevens;  small,  glass-bottomed  boxes 
for  searching  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  wheels,  hatch- 
covers,  and  I  know  not  what.  At  the  other  end  of 
the  room  a  ladder  leads  up  to  a  loft,  where  sieves 
for  guano,  a  harpoon,  a  double-handed  saw,  and 
iron  shell  baskets  are  heaped  together.  Two  im- 
mense iron  tanks,  painted  red,  stand  at  either 
side  of  the  seaward  doors. 

Next  to  this  house  came  the  ** office,"  with  a 
little  cubby  partitioned  off  one  side.  I  looked 
through  the  pigeonholes  of  the  cubby  and  found 
a  packet  of  thin    sheets  of  tortoise-shell   and  a 

[71] 


The    Cruise    of 

large  parcel  of  a  native  woman's  hair.  Mildewed 
maps  hang  on  the  walls,  the  ceiling  is  adorned 
with  ten  rusty  cutlasses,  old  ledgers  lie  about,  and 
a  bag  of  cotton  lies  on  the  floor  as  though  it  had 
just  been  dropped  there.  On  one  of  the  sides  of 
the  room  is  a  broad,  white  band  with  painted 
black  letters  "Peerless  wrecked  on  Suwarrow 
Island."  In  one  corner  stands  a  box  of  bits  of  old 
iron  which  are  put  in  with  cocoanuts  when  they 
are  planted.  It  is  called  "cocoanut  manure."  This 
reminds  me  that  the  Paumotuans  plant  with  their 
cocoanuts  a  rusty  nail  and  a  ship's  biscuit.  In  the 
outer  room  sixteen  decaying  muskets  are  ranged 
in  a  rack.  Shelves  are  filled  with  all  sorts  of  tools, 
nails,  axes,  bush  knives,  tins  of  sardines  and  sal- 
mon, and  a  quantity  of  mouldy  shoes  in  children's 
sizes  only;  among  the  shoes  were  a  toy  chest  of 
drawers  and  a  box  of  moulting  feathers. 

Passing  another  building  containing  miscella- 
neous wreckage,  blue  and  white  china  among 
the  rest,  I  came  to  the  manager's  house,  a  large, 
wooden-floored  structure  with  a  thatched  roof. 
Here  I  found  a  native  man  at  work  on  accounts, 
his  old  dog  at  his  feet,  which  were  wrapped  up  in 
the  Union  Jack  to  keep  them  warm.  This  room 
was  evidently  designed  by  a  sailor  and  gave  one 
quite  the  feehng  of  being  on  board  ship.  Instead  of 

[72] 


the    '^ Janet   NichoT* 

windows  there  were  port-holes,  three  on  either 
side,  with  a  couple  flanking  the  front  door.  Covers, 
painted  black  to  imitate  iron,  could  be  screwed 
over  the  ports  like  deadlights  on  shipboard.  The 
doors,  one  in  either  end,  opened  in  two  parts, 
being  divided  across  the  middle.  The  furniture 
consisted  of  two  bedsteads  of  native  wood  with 
cocoa  sennit  laced  across  them  to  serve  for  mat- 
tresses. A  couple  of  bunches  of  bananas  hung  from 
the  roof.  Against  the  wall  hung  the  death  certifi- 
cate of  the  dead  man,  which,  in  such  cases,  must 
be  the  only  proof  that  the  death  was  due  to  nat- 
ural causes,  and  not  a  crime.  I  copied  the  certifi- 
cate. 

Samuli  lee  aho  2  .  .  .  . 

he  motu  nai  mate  he  malu  va  he  tau 

fro  ia  gauali  2  1889  Ka  Papu 

Ko  Maro  tola  ne  ha  nie  ne  tamu 

Ka  Patiti  ma  miti  San  ma 

J  ketiti  ma  Paemani  Koe  tau  wine 

Kwenia  kia  mounina  kelie  iki  lagi  ke 

he  tan  ban  nei  kua  hobooko  kiai  a  tautala 

June  ati  2 — 1890 

Next  comes  "government  house,"  as  Louis  calls 
It,  neatly  thatched,  the  floors  of  wood,  and  sepa- 
rated into  two  rooms  by  panelled  wood  from  a 
wreck;  the  rooms  are  connected  by  a  wide,  open 

[73] 


The    Cruise    of 

doorway,  the  arched  top  and  sides  edged  with 
brass.  In  one  room  is  a  table  with  a  Bible  and  other 
books  lying  on  it,  a  home-made  sofa  covered  with 
a  mat;  two  corner  shelves,  spread  with  newspapers 
cut  in  points  where  they  hang  over,  are  filled  with 
miscellaneous  books;  chests,  a  compass-box,  and 
a  water-monkey  with  its  neck  gone  stand  about. 
On  the  walls  are  some  rather  pretty  engravings, 
a  few  framed  and  one  glazed.  On  each  side  of 
the  house  are  small,  square  windows  protected  by 
solid  wooden  shutters  that  drop  down  when  not 
upheld  by  a  stick.  The  front  and  back  doors 
are  strong  and  divided  across  the  middle.  In  the 
back  room  are  two  home-made  bedsteads,  sennit 
crossed,  one  with  a  mosquito  curtain.  Chests  are 
on  the  floor,  mats  lie  about,  and  a  roll  of  fine 
mats  is  lashed  to  the  ceiling.  In  front  of  the  house, 
the  gable  end,  are  two  large,  rusty,  iron  boilers 
such  as  are  used  on  ships.  Inside  the  compound, 
which  is  neatly  fenced  with  whitewashed  palings, 
are  two  small,  mounted  cannon  with  a  couple  of 
vi-trees  growing  beside  them.  Returning  to  what 
I  call  the  church,  I  passed  a  tool  house,  a  large 
room  filled  with  rusting  tools.  Two  small  casks 
of  fresh  water  lie  waiting  there  in  case  a  boat 
should  come  ashore  in  distress  for  water.  There  is 
also  an  immense  cistern  sunk  in  the  ground,  filled 

•     [74] 


the    '''Janet    N  icho  T  * 

with  rain-water  caught  on  the  iron  roofs,  but  that, 
I  believe,  is  kept  locked. 

Leaving  the  dog  that  boarded  us  at  Auckland, 
and  some  cats,  we  departed  from  the  most  ro- 
mantic island  in  the  world,  regretting  that  to  us 
its  history  must  always  remain  a  mystery  un- 
solved. 

i6th. — Arrived  at  Danger  Island.  Boats  put  out 
to  inform  Mr.  Henderson  that,  despite  all  their 
promises  when  we  were  here  before,  there  is  no 
copra  ready,  it  being  the  season  when  the  natives 
collect  subscriptions  for  the  church  and  hold  the 
"Me"  meeting.  "No  tobacco,"  says  Mr.  Hender- 
son with  malicious  glee  as  he  orders  the  people 
off  the  ship.  To  my  joy  he  says  to  the  captain: 
"Can  you  make  Nassau  by  night!"  The  captain 
can;  and  we  arrive  the  same  night  and  lie  off  and 
on  until  morning.  We  give  Nassau  a  blue  light, 
and  the  inhabitants  respond  with  a  bonfire,  keep- 
ing it  blazing  all  night,  apparently  afraid  if  they 
let  it  go  out  we  may  steam  away. 

lyth. — Nassau  is  a  small,  high-low  island  enclos- 
ing a  lagoon  which  has  now  dwindled  to  a  pond. 
It  is  triangular  in  shape  and  roughly  measures 
five  miles  round.  We  could  see  that  the  ground  rose 
up  from  the  beach  at  a  considerable  slope,  and 
between  the  ti-trees  I  could  make  out  that  grass 

[75] 


The    Cruise    of 

was  growing.  With  a  glass  I  could  distinguish  a 
breadfruit  tree.  Nassau  has  no  anchorage  and 
the  landing  was  thought  to  be  too  dangerous  for 
me  to  attempt,  so,  to  my  great  disappointment, 
the  men  went  without  me;  from  the  description 
they  gave  when  they  returned,  and  from  the  out- 
side view,  it  must  be  the  loveliest  of  all  the  high- 
low  islands.  There  are  many  pigs  and  fowls,  and 
all  the  high -island  fruits  flourish  exceedingly; 
turtle  abound,  both  the  green  turtle  beloved  of 
aldermen  and  the  turtle  that  produces  the  shell 
of  commerce.  The  owner  of  the  island  had  not 
visited  the  place  for  two  years,  so  the  few  people 
living  there  felt  as  though  they  had  been  marooned. 
They  sent  two  pigs  on  board,  and  offered  Mr. 
Hird  a  large  piece  of  tortoise-shell  which  he  re- 
fused because  of  its  value.  There  were  some  forty 
boxes  of  copra  ready  for  sale,  but,  as  the  sea  was 
high  and  the  landing  bad,  Mr.  Hird  did  not  care 
to  take  it.  Mr.  Henderson,  however,  gave  them 
what  "trade"  they  wanted,  some  fifteen  dollars' 
worth,  as  a  present. 

When  Louis  came  back  he  gave  me  the  follow- 
ing account  of  his  visit,  starting  from  the  very 
beginning: 

"First  thing  in  the  morning  we  saw  the  whole 
population  gathered  on  the  beach.  As  we  came 


the    ^' Janet   NichoV' 

nearer  in  and  lowered  a  boat  it  was  a  strange 
thing  to  see  the  two  women  dancing  Hke  jumping- 
jacks  for  joy.  All  three  men  came  down  to  the 
edge  of  the  reef.  H.  signed  to  them  from  the 
bridge  to  jump  in,  and  swim,  which  two  of  them, 
Joe  and  Jim,  did,  the  boat  meeting  them  half 
way.  We  could  see  them  scramble  in  solemnly 
and  shake  hands  with  Johnny,  who  was  at  the 
steer  oar,  and  sit  down.  They  had  a  good  many 
old  friends  on  board,  Joe  especially,  and  it  was  a 
treat  to  see  the  absurd  creature  dance  up  to  them 
for  all  the  world  like  a  clown  in  a  pantomime. 
A  little  later,  seeing  Lloyd  come  out  from  under 
a  blanket  where  he  had  been  changing  plates  in 
the  camera,  he  made  us  all  nearly  die  laughing 
with  his  pantomime  of  terror.  He  called  every- 
body *old  man';  and  was  always  either  laughing 
himself  or  the  cause  of  laughter  in  others.  He  said 
they  had  no  fish;  'got  no  canoe,'  he  said,  'why  not 
make  one,'  asked  one  of  us;  'Too  much  wo'kl' 
cried  Joe  with  infinite  gusto.  He  Is  very  strong, 
and  in  reality  most  Industrious,  only  he  is  simply 
marooned  and  means  to  do  nothing  needless. 
After  breakfast  we  go  ashore.  The  third  man  and 
a  dog  met  us  on  the  reef;  and  singular  thing,  the 
dog  is  afraid  of  us.  At  the  house  we  are  introduced 
to  Mrs.  Joe,  Mrs.  Jim  and  the  five  children,  the 


The    Cruise    of 

whole  party  like  crazy  folk,  dancing  and  clapping 
their  hands  and  laughing  for  mere  excitement. 
On  into  the  island,  a  garden-like  place,  with  limes, 
bananas,  and  figs  growing,  and  the  ground  in  many 
places  carpeted  with  turf.  Not  in  all,  however, 
and  as  I  had  bare  feet,  and  the  morning  was  hot, 
I  presently  turned  back  and  arrived  alone  at  the 
settlement.  Mrs.  Joe  was  out  waiting  for  me  with 
a  green  cocoanut;  while  I  was  drinking  she  tried 
to  abstract  my  ring.  Failing  in  this  she  led  me 
into  a  shed  where  Mrs.  Jim  was,  piled  up  pillows 
at  my  back,  supported  me  in  her  arms  and  pro- 
ceeded to  feed  me  like  an  infant  with  cocoa- 
nut  pudding.  Mrs.  Jim,  meanwhile,  patted  and 
smoothed  me,  and  both  at  the  pitch  of  their  ex- 
cited voices  plied  me  with  questions  as  to  my 
age,  country,  family,  wife  and  business.  When 
they  heard  my  wife  was  on  board,  they  cried  out 
with  regret  that  she  had  not  come;  and  Mrs.  Joe 
intimated  that  she  was  dying  to  go  on  board  to 
see  her  but  lacked  clothes.  (Both  were  quite  well 
dressed,  Mrs.  Joe  a  comely  fellow,  in  blue,  Mrs. 
Jim  in  red;  they  began  at  once  to  build  up  a 
heap  of  presents  for  the  fafine  (lady).  In  the 
meanwhile,  or  concurrently,  they  were  all  through 
my  pockets  and  robbed  me  of  all  I  possessed; 
all  my  money,  tobacco,  matches,  and  my  pocket 

[78] 


the    ^^ Janet    NichoV' 

handkerchief;  some  capsules  I  saved,  telHng  them 
they  contained  poison,  and  (more  fortunate  than 
the  rest)  my  cap.  They  were  perfectly  good  na- 
tured  when  refused  anything,  but  returned  again 
to  the  assault  like  flies.  Mrs.  Jim  offered  to  give 
me  her  baby  in  exchange  for  Lloyd,  which  I  ac- 
cepted. When  the  party  arrived  they  were  all 
subjected  to  similar  pillage;  though,  being  so 
many,  scarcely  to  the  same  endearments.  (I  was 
simply  petted,  smoothed,  caressed,  and  fed  like 
a  pet  animal.)  The  scene  was  one  of  the  wildest 
excitement  and  I  am  sure  they  all  had  headaches. 
All  came  down  to  the  reef  to  see  us  off;  Joe  and 
Jim  were  to  take  us  out;  the  ladies  stood  a  little 
back  up  to  their  knees,  and  when  the  boat  was 
launched,  I  saw  Mrs.  Joe  make  a  sudden  plunge 
under  her  skirts,  and  next  moment  her  gaudy 
lava-lava  was  flying  in  the  air  for  a  signal  of  fare- 
well. When  a  native  woman  dons  a  civilised  gar- 
ment she  still  retains  her  native  garment,  the 
lava-lava  twisted  round  her  body.  Once  we  were 
clear  of  the  breakers  under  the  able  pilotage  of 
Joe,  *this  Is  very  beastiness'  said  he  severely,  to 
one  of  our  black  boys  who  volunteered  advice. 
Jim  and  he  stood  upon  the  thwarts,  'good-bye, 
old  man,'  heels  up,  head  down,  and  next  moment 
they  were  pushing  for  the  shore.'* 

[79] 


The    Cruise    of 

igth. — Quiros  (the  Jennings)  in  the  morning. 
After  Nassau  it  seems  commonplace  and  tamely 
prosperous.  We  walked  across  to  the  lagoon  which 
is  very  large  and  only  slightly  brackish.  Lloyd 
and  Tin  Jack  took  a  swim,  and  I  went  back  to 
the  women.  After  drinking  many  cocoanuts  we 
returned  to  the  ship. 

20th. — Mrs.  Jennings  and  her  sister-in-law,  with 
a  singing  boat's  crew  Samoan  fashion,  visited  us. 
Unfortunately,  one  of  the  ladies  became  seasick, 
which  cut  their  visit  short. 

2ist. — Fakaafo,  of  the  Tokalau  group.  Louis  and 
I  went  on  shore  very  early  in  the  morning.There 
was  a  big  swell  and  all  our  boatmen  had  different 
views  at  the  same  moment,  the  consequence 
being  that  we  broached  to  and  were  nearly 
swamped.  I  got  drenched  from  head  to  foot  and 
felt  very  cold.  We  walked  about  the  village  and 
were  taken  to  the  house  of  the  King.  The  Queen 
spread  a  mat  on  the  ground  for  us  and  we  sat 
down  beside  her;  she  was  holding  a  precocious 
httle  baby  in  her  arms,  her  grandchild,  I  pre- 
sume, for  she  looked  quite  an  old  woman.  The 
King  came  to  the  opening  of  the  hut  and,  thrust- 
ing out  his  head  and  shoulders,  shook  hands  with 
us  and  tried  to  converse,  Cocoanuts  were  offered 
us,  but  I  felt  too  chilly  for  that  refreshment.  It 

[80] 


the    ^  *  J  an  et    N  ichoV  ^ 

seemed  a  languid  place;  the  very  children  soon 
tired  of  following  us. 

As  I  felt  symptoms  of  rheumatism  from  the 
wetting  I  had  got,  I  hunted  up  the  trader,  a  pal- 
lid Portuguese,  and  asked  if  his  wife  could  lend 
me  a  gown.  He  said  if  we  crossed  the  island  we 
would  find  a  board  house,  belonging  to  him, 
where  his  wife  would  give  me  a  native  dress.  As 
we  drew  near  the  place  several  handsome,  smiling 
women  joined  us;  we  all  sat  down  on  the  veranda 
and  waited  for  the  trader,  who  was  not  far 
behind  us,  and  I  was  soon  clad  in  comfortable 
dry  clothes.  We  refused  cocoanuts  but  accepted 
brandy  and  water.  I  gave  the  trader's  wife  the 
wreath  from  my  head  and  a  gold  ring,  after  which 
we  came  back  to  the  ship,  very  nearly  upsetting 
our  boat  in  the  surf.  I  had  with  me  a  number  of 
plain  gold  wedding  rings;  I  always  wore  a  few 
that  I  might  take  them  from  my  own  hand  to 
offer  as  presents. 

In  the  afternoon  the  trader's  wife  sent  me  a 
present  of  a  hat.  The  trader  used  the  most  puz- 
zling English  possible;  in  passing  Lloyd's  room  he 
caught  sight  of  a  guitar.  "Who  that  music?"  he 
asked.  When  told,  he  asked  to  have  the  guitar  put 
in  his  hands  and  demanded  that  Lloyd  be  sent 
for.  In  the  meantime  he  examined  the  instrument 

[8i] 


The    Cruise    of 

and  found  two  broken  strings.  When  Lloyd  came 
the  trader  said  he  wanted  two  fine  guitar  strings. 
Not  having  too  many,  Lloyd  was  loath  to  part 
with  the  strings,  but  the  man  was  so  bent  on 
having  them  that  the  box  of  strings  was  sent  for. 
On  Lloyd  asking  the  man  about  his  own  guitar, 
to  our  surprise  he  said  he  had  none  at  all,  and  yet 
he  went  on  choosing  out  strings  with  the  utmost 
excitement.  "Really,"  said  Lloyd,  "I  can't  let 
you  have  all  those;  I  will  give  you  this  lot  but  no 
more;  and  I  don't  see  what  you  want  with  them 
if  you  have  no  guitar";  apparently,  he  wanted 
them  to  "play  with."  Then  it  occurred  to  us  that 
he  might  have  some  other  sort  of  instrument  on 
which  guitar  strings  could  be  used;  but  no,  he 
said  he  had  no  sort  of  instrument  whatever.  At 
last,  after  great  perplexity  and  wild  endeavours 
to  find  out  what  he  would  be  at,  Lloyd  suddenly, 
as  if  by  inspiration,  asked:  "Do  you  want  to  buy 
this  guitar?"  That  was  the  mystery.  As  we  had  only 
one  guitar  we  could  not  give  it  to  him,  so  the  poor 
fellow  sadly  returned  both  strings  and  instrument. 
22d. — We  celebrated  the  anniversary  of  our 
marriage^  in  front  of  the  trade  room.  Champagne 

^  We  forgot  it  on  the  nineteenth,  which  was  the  real 
anniversary,  but  thought  there  would  be  no  harm  in 
a  belated  celebration. 

[82I 


the    ^^ Janet    NichoT^ 

was  set  to  cool  in  wet  towels,  and  at  about  four 
we  gathered  together  at  the  appointed  place,  each 
person  to  do  what  he  could  for  the  amusement 
of  the  others.  Tin  Jack  gave  a  reading  from 
Shakespeare,  standing  in  a  pulpit  that  was  part 
of  our  cargo.  Mr.  Hird  sang  *'Afton  Water" 
charmingly  with  much  grace  and  feeling.  Lloyd 
sang,  and  Louis,  taking  what  he  saw  before  him 
as  a  text  (it  was  an  advertisement  of  St.  Jacob's 
oil),  mounted  the  pulpit  and  delivered  a  sermon. 

Sight  land,  Atafu,  where  I  hope  to  get  Tokalau 
buckets,  which  are  very  useful  in  place  of  port- 
manteaus. 

23 i. — Mr.  Henderson  went  ashore  very  early 
this  morning,  at  Atafu.  He  boasts  that  he  ate 
three  chicken  legs  as  well  as  half  a  breast  and 
quantities  of  taro.  As  I  have  a  little  rheumatism 
from  wearing  my  wet  clothes  so  long  at  Fakaafo, 
and  it  rains,  I  decided  to  stay  on  board  and  take 
a  dose  of  salicylate.  Later  the  sun  comes  out;  my 
rheumatism  flies  before  the  salicylate,  but  too  late; 
Louis  has  gone  in  the  boat  and  there  is  no  other 
for  me,  I  spend  a  dreary  time  watching  the  people 
with  an  opera-glass.  The  wind  occasionally  brings 
the  sound  of  singing  to  my  ears.  Then  the  opera- 
glass  gives  me  a  headache,  and  I  try  reading, 
first  "011a  Podrida,"  which  I  cannot  manage,  and 

[83] 


The    Cruise    of 

afterward  the  South  Pacific  Directory,  with  which 
I  succeed  better.  The  boat  comes  back  at  dinner 
time,  everybody  talking  at  once  about  the  curi- 
ous experiences  they  have  had. 

2^th. — To  my  regret  I  did  not  feel  well  enough 
to  go  on  shore.  A  trader,  the  brother  of  the  man 
who  wished  to  buy  the  guitar,  told  me  his  wife 
was  coming  to  see  me  and  introduced  his  son,  a 
fine,  little,  brown  fellow  of  about  eleven.  Mr. 
Hird  informed  me  that  he  is  quite  a  travelled 
youth.  He,  himself,  told  me  he  had  been  to  Sydney, 
and  when  I  asked,  "To  San  Francisco?"  he  re- 
plied: "No,  but  I  have  been  to  Frisco."  This  child 
was  on  board  a  schooner  when  she  was  nearly 
destroyed  by  fire,  and  also  when  she  was  in  im- 
minent danger  of  being  shipwrecked.  The  fire 
was  an  incendiary  act.  One  of  the  sailors  had  sev- 
eral times  been  very  impudent  to  the  captain  of 
the  schooner  and  was  regarded  as  a  dangerous 
character.  He,  one  day,  in  a  fit  of  rage,  attacked 
the  cook  with  a  knife  and  nearly  murdered  him. 
The  captain,  who  seemed  a  pitiful  fellow,  was 
frightened  at  the  thought  of  putting  the  man  in 
irons  and  bungled  to  such  an  extent  with  the 
handcuffs  that  the  culprit,  himself,  obligingly 
put  them  on.  The  supercargo  asked  that  the  cul- 
prit be  confined  in  the  cabin  next  his,  but  the  cap- 

[84] 


the    ^^ Janet    NichoT' 

tain  was  alarmed  at  the  idea  of  having  him  so 
near.  It  was  not  long  before  he  managed  to  get 
loose,  set  the  ship  on  fire,  and  jump  overboard. 
A  few  hours  after  the  fire  they  were  nearly  driven 
on  a  rock  before  a  heavy  squall.  When  they  were 
so  close  that  they  could  almost  have  jumped  on 
the  rock,  the  vessel  stopped  dead  and  remained 
perfectly  quiet.  The  rock  had  taken  the  wind  out 
of  her  sails,  and  the  backwash  held  them  off. 

By  and  by  the  trader's  wife  and  her  friend,  a 
handsome  woman  with  a  haughty,  high-bred  ex- 
pression, came  on  board.  With  a  simplicity  that 
was  almost  cynical,  the  trader  explained  that  at 
one  time  there  had  been  a  great  many  German 
sailors  about  the  islands,  so,  as  his  wife  had 
yellow  hair,  he  just  took  it  for  granted  that  she 
was  a  German  half-caste.  She  certainly  did  look 
very  like  a  sentimental  German  governess,  with 
her  yellow  hair  and  bhnking  eyes,  but  I  per- 
ceived at  once  that  whatever  else  she  might  be, 
she  was  certainly  an  albino.  She  brought  me  a 
basket  and  a  small  Tokalau  bucket.  In  return  I 
gave  her  a  gold  ring  which  she  replaced  with  three 
tortoise-shell  rings  and  a  thicker  one  ingeniously 
tied  in  a  true-lovers'  knot.  I  gave  the  friend  a 
wreath  and  received  a  hat  as  an  exchange  present. 
These  people  are  desperate  flatterers;  we  call  this 

[85] 


The    Cruise    of 

*'The  Isle  of  Flatterers."  A  native  met  Mr.  Hen- 
derson in  Louis's  hearing.  "You  handsome  man!'* 
he  cried,  his  voice  thrilling  with  emotion  as  he 
eagerly  studied  Mr.  Henderson's  face.  "You  good 
woman!"  said  Mrs.  Trader  to  me  continually,  her 
eyes  melting  into  mine  with  admiration  and  af- 
fection as  she  tenderly  embraced  me.  I  asked  for 
a  lock  of  her  beautiful  hair,  which,  after  asking 
permission  of  her  husband,  she  gave  me;  I  pinned 
it  in  my  diary  and  she  wrote  under  it,  ''  Fani  mai 
Jeleni"  (Fanny,  my  friend)  and  her  own  name, 
"Amalaisa";  then  she  fanned  me,  and  caressed 
me,  and  flattered  me,  and  finally,  getting  hold  of 
my  photograph,  pressed  it  to  her  bosom  and  face, 
saying:  "All  same  you."  I  wonder  if  they  really 
do  "rub  noses"  anywhere!  All  I  have  seen  is  a 
pressing  together  of  the  two  faces  with  a  slight 
inspiration  through  the  nostrils.  While  I  was  sit- 
ting with  Amalaisa  and  her  friend,  holding  a 
hand  of  each,  I  became  aware  that  a  very  ragged 
but  superior-looking  young  native  man  had  joined 
our  party.  "That  boy.  King,"  whispered  Amalaisa, 
so  I  shook  hands  with  his  majesty  and  called 
Louis  to  be  introduced.  The  last  words  of  royalty 
were  "You  good  woman,"  delivered  in  most  se- 
ductive tones. 

Most  of  these  natives  are  suffering  from  a  skin 

[86] 


the    ^^  Janet    NichoV^ 

disease  which  covers  them  with  whitish  scales 
and  is  contagious.  I  trust  we  have  not  all  caught 
it.  The  scaliest  boy  in  the  island  has  been  walking 
about  all  day  with  his  arm  round  Louis's  waist, 
patting  and  smoothing  down  his  hands  with  a 
purring:  "You  good  papalagi"  (foreigner). 

When  it  came  time  to  part  Amalaisa  gave  me 
another  hat  and  put  more  sentimental  expression 
into  her  tofa  (farewell)  than  one  would  think 
possible.  We  shook  hands,  Amalaisa  suddenly 
kissed  me  and  was  gone  in  a  flash. 

Louis  has  written  here  the  following  account 
of  his  adventures  in  Atafu:  "Immediately  on  land- 
ing I  was  surrounded  by  boys  more  or  less  scaly; 
the  little  girls  fled  before  us  in  a  squadron,  look- 
ing coquettishly  back;  if  they  came  too  near  the 
boys  cast  handfuls  of  stones  upon  the  ground  by 
way  of  a  hint.  'You  Peletania?'  (British)  they 
asked,  one  after  another  and  again  and  again, 
always  receiving  my  affirmative  with  ^Peletania — ■ 
Aloha!^  taken  in  an  indrawn  breath.  One  boy 
walked  all  the  way,  caressing  me.  'You  good  papa- 
lagiy  he  cried  at  intervals.  I  suppose  I  had  fifty 
of  our  escort.  Presently  we  found  some  twelve 
stalwart  dames  sitting  on  a  wall.  They  made  me 
sit  by  them,  sent  for  cocoanuts,  caressed  me  with 
the   most   extraordinary   fervour   of  admiration, 

[87] 


The    Cruise    of 

and  breathed,  from  time  to  time,  in  an  emotional 
chorus:  * Peletania — Aloha!'  Although  not  accus- 
tomed to  the  offer  of  gallantry  based  upon  po- 
litical considerations,  I  suspected  something  was 
intended;  and  presently  one  of  the  boys  was 
called  by  the  ladies  and  stood  forth  as  an  inter- 
preter. 'All  these  girls  he  laugh  at  you'  (these 
ladies  smile  upon  you  is  what  he  meant).  'You 
flatter  me,'  said  I.  The  disappointment  caused  by 
this  miscarriage  was  inconceivable.  A  little  later 
one  of  the  boys  asked  me:  'You  want  wife?'  'I 
got  wife  on  board,'  I  said.  'Wife  on  board,'  cried 
he  with  unmistakable  scorn,  'no  good!'  The  new- 
comers laid  traps  for  me  as  to  my  nativity.  I  could 
hear  them  asking  and  hearing  what  I  claimed  to 
be;  and  then  they  would  come  up  and  ask  in  a 
fine,  offhand  manner:  'You  Mehcan?'  (American). 
Certainly  we  have  no  possession  more  loyal  than 
Atafu.  Another  specimen  of  Atafu  English  (they 
all  speak  some)  is  this:  I  had  given  a  boy  a  stick 
of  tobacco;  another  asked  for  one.  'No,'  I  said, 
'all  done.'  'Eet  ees  feenished,'  said  the  boy  who 
had  the  stick;  but  the  boy  who  had  it  not  re- 
garded me  with  a  playful  smile.  'You  go  hell!  no 
done.' 

"I  saw  the  cure  for  scaly  itch,  invented  by  old 
Jennings  of  Olesenga — a  barrel  sunk  in  the  earth 

[88] 


the    ^^ Janet    NichoT* 

where  they  are  smoked  with  sulphur.  The  girl 
who  was  undergoing  treatment  was  the  most  Eu- 
ropean Httle  soul — skin  of  a  fair  brown,  eyes  a 
light  hazel,  hair  golden  chestnut.  Strange  that 
folk  of  a  low  island  should  so  incline  to  fairness. 
Amalaisa  first  claimed  me  as  'mai  felenV ;  hearing 
of  my  wife,  she  transferred  her  allegiance  and 
began  to  write  her  love-letters;  the  factitious 
nature  of  this  sentiment  {me  judice)  didn't  pre- 
vent its  being  an  immense  success." 

zyth. — We  expect  to  make  Funafuti,  the  first 
of  the  ElHces,  by  daybreak;  at  nine  o'clock  there 
was  no  sign  of  the  island.  "Bad  steering,"  growled 
the  captain.  **  We've  run  past  it,  and  now  we  have 
to  turn  round  and  run  back."  At  about  two  we 
anchor  in  the  lagoon,  and  almost  immediately 
the  traders  are  aboard,  two  wretched-looking  ob- 
jects. One  was  a  half-caste  from  some  other  island, 
with  elephantiasis,  very  bad,  in  both  legs.  There 
were  recent  scarifications  as  though  he  had  been 
attempting  the  Samoan  plan  of  tapping.  The 
other  trader  was  not  thin  but  the  most  bloodless 
creature  I  ever  saw;  his  face,  hands,  legs,  and  feet 
were  without  sunburn,  smooth,  and  of  a  curious 
transparent  texture  like  wax.  It  seemed  an  over- 
exertion to  raise  his  large,  heavy  eyes  when  he 
spoke  to  us.  The  two  men  had  pulled  the  boat  in 

[89] 


The    Cruise    of 

which  they  came.  The  pallid  one  panted  and  held 
both  hands  over  his  heart  as  though  suffering 
acutely.  I  asked  him  if  he  liked  the  island.  "Not 
at  all,"  he  answered  and  went  on  to  describe  the 
people;  he  said  he  could  not  keep  chickens,  ducks, 
or  pigs;  no  one  could,  for  their  neighbours,  jealous 
that  another  should  have  what  they  had  not, 
would  stone  the  creatures  to  death.  The  same 
with  the  planting  of  fruit-trees;  the  soil  was  good, 
and  there  were  a  few  breadfruits  and  bananas, 
but  any  attempt  to  grow  more  is  frustrated.  The 
young  trees  are  torn  up  and  even  the  old  ones 
are  occasionally  broken  and  nearly  destroyed. 
Before  the  great  earthquake  in  Java  there  were 
plenty  of  good  fish  fit  for  eating.  The  half-caste 
can  remember  when  a  poisonous  fish  was  a  thing 
unknown;  now  all  outside  the  reef  are  poisonous, 
and  many  inside.  The  worst  of  it  is  that  a  fish, 
to-day  innocuous,  may  to-morrow  become  deadly. 
Turtle  do  not  come  to  the  islands  at  all;  so  there 
is  no  food  besides  copra  except  what  chance  vessels 
may  bring.  I  fear  this  poor  man  is  simply  dying 
of  starvation.  A  steward  on  board  the  missionary 
ship,  who  knew  a  little  about  medicine,  had  told 
him  that  he  only  needed  iron  and  good  food. 
"They  gave  me  a  bottle  of  iron,"  he  said,  "and  I 
got  better  on  that,  or  I'd  be  dead  by  now,  but 

[90] 


the    ^^  Janet    NichoT* 

how  could  I  get  the  nourishing  food?"  I  suggested 
his  leaving  the  island,  but  the  loyal  soul  replied 
that,  though  he  knew  he  could  save  his  life  by 
doing  so,  he  would  not  desert  his  native  wife  and 
children. 

The  half-caste  told  us  several  stories  that  sick- 
ened us  to  hear  and  yet  were  most  interesting. 
In  1886  he  was  away  from  Funafuti.  During  his 
absence  two  American  vessels,  under  the  Peru- 
vian flag,  came  to  the  island  and  distributed  pres- 
ents right  and  left  to  all  who  came  to  receive 
them.  Naturally,  the  people  were  delighted,  and 
when  it  was  proposed  that  as  many  as  liked 
should  go  to  Peru  to  be  educated  by  these  kind 
people,  they  flocked  on  board  in  crowds.  The  King, 
anxious  that  as  many  as  possible  should  partici- 
pate in  this  good  fortune,  blew  his  horn,  which  is 
the  royal  summons.  On  the  return  of  the  half- 
caste  two  thirds  of  the  population  had  gone,  and 
the  King  was  in  the  very  act  of  blowing  his  horn 
again  to  gather  in  his  remaining  subjects,  now 
reduced  to  the  very  young  and  the  very  old.  It 
is  needless  to  add  that  the  vessels  were  slavers, 
and  the  entrapped  islanders  were  never  seen  again. 

Throughout  the  islands  (Funafuti  and  her  chicks, 
one  might  call  them)  there  are  not  now  above 
one  hundred  and  fifty  inhabitants  all  together. 

[91I 


The    Cruise    of 

They  have  a  bad  name — are  said  to  be  a  dirty, 
rough,  dishonest  lot;  dishonest,  that  is,  as  far  as 
cheating  goes,  but  they  do  not  steal.  No  wonder 
they  are  dishonest,  for  they  learned  in  a  good 
school.  Here  is  another  tale  of  the  half-caste. 
Mata,  of  Samoa,  come  to  buy  copra;  there  was 
none  but  what  had  been  engaged  by  another 
vessel,  the  price  being  one  and  a  quarter  cents. 
"I'll  give  you  two,"  said  Mata  promptly,  w^hich 
offer  was  as  promptly  accepted.  But  Mata's  scales 
weighed  nothing  higher  than  one  hundred  and  four 
pounds;  so,  though  he  paid  two  cents,  he  left  with 
tons  for  which  he  paid  nothing. 

Resterau,  the  pallid  trader,  had  sailed  with 
both  "Bully  Hayes"  and  "Bully  Pease," ^  of 
whose  names  I  am  quite  sick  and  hope  I'll  never 
hear  them  again.  Louis  and  I  went  with  Mr. 
Henderson  over  to  the  island,  where  we  met  the 
wives  and  children  of  the  traders,  handsome, 
healthy,  and  with  excellent  manners;  two  young 
girls  were  quite  beautiful.  Resterau's  wife  had 
but  one  eye  and  was  a  plain,  kindly  old  body. 

After  a  little,  Louis  and  I  strolled  across  the 
island,  becoming  more  and  more  amazed  by  what 
we  saw.  Everything  that  one  naturally  expects  to 

^  Two  somewhat  picturesque  desperadoes  of  the  South 
Seas,  now  dead  fortunately  for  the  rest  of  the  world. 

[92] 


the    ^^  Janet    N  ichoV  ' 

find  on  a  low  island  is  here  reversed.  To  begin 
with-,  the  fact  of  the  poisonous  fish  being  outside 
the  reef  is  contrary  to  what  one  has  reason  to 
expect.  The  soil  is  very  rich  for  a  low  island, 
with  ferns  and  many  shrubs  and  flowering  plants 
growing.  We  saw  a  little  taro  and  quite  a  large 
patch,  considering,  of  bananas.  There  was  much 
marsh  and  green  stagnant  pools,  and  the  air  was 
heavy  with  a  hothouse  smell.  The  island  seemed 
unusually  wide,  but  what  was  our  astonishment 
when  we  pushed  through  the  bushes  and  trees  to 
find  ourselves  not  on  the  sea  beach,  as  we  had 
expected,  but  on  the  margin  of  a  large  lagoon 
emptied  of  its  waters  almost  entirely  by  the  low 
tide.  The  lagoon  was  everywhere  enclosed,  but 
the  traders  told  us  there  was  a  blow-hole  outlet 
into  which  the  natives  had  thrown  piles  of  coral 
hoping  to  block  it  up.  A  little  girl  had  once  fallen 
into  the  lagoon  when  the  tide  was  turning;  three 
days  after  her  body  was  found  far  out  at  sea.  It 
was  then  that  the  blow-hole,  where  she  had  been 
sucked  through,  was  discovered.  Off  on  one  side 
there  seemed  to  be  an  opening  by  which  we  hoped 
to  reach  the  beach.  We  crossed  a  bit  of  mangrove 
swamp,  climbed  over  loose  piled-up  shingle  that 
rang  with  a  metallic  sound  very  unlike  coral,  and 
at  last  reached  the  beach.  I  wandered  away  from 

[93 1 


The    Cruise    of 

Louis,  gathering  shells,  but  was  recalled  by  a 
wild  shout.  I  found  Louis  bending  over  a  piece 
of  the  outer  reef  that  he  had  broken  off.  From  the 
face  of  both  fractures  innumerable  worms  were 
hanging  like  a  sort  of  dreadful,  thick  fringe.  The 
worms  looked  exactly  like  slender  earthworms, 
more  or  less  bleached,  though  some  were  quite 
earthworm  colour.  They  lengthened  out  and  con- 
tracted again  until  I  felt  quite  sick  and  had  to 
fly  from  the  sight.  Afterward  Louis  broke  other 
pieces  of  rock;  one  kind  always  contained  worms; 
another  kind,  lighter  in  colour  and  firmer  in  tex- 
ture, contained  much  fewer  worms,  also  empty 
holes  in  the  process  of  closing  up;  still  others  were 
close  and  hard  and  white,  like  marble.  I  got  a 
good  many  shells,  and  after  a  fruitless  search  for 
some  other  way  across  the  island  than  round 
the  inland  lagoon,  I  gave  it  up  and  we  retraced 
our  footsteps;  that  is,  for  a  certain  time,  when 
we  became  lost,  or  as  Louis  indignantly  put  it: 
"Not  lost  at  all;  we  only  could  not  find  our 
way." 

The  two  traders  dined  with  us,  and  I  was  glad 
to  see  that  the  bloodless  man  ate  a  large  double 
helping  of  meat.  Lloyd,  fortunately,  thought  of 
giving  him  some  stout  and  asked  Mr.  Henderson 

[94] 


the    ^^ Janet   NichoT* 

if  the  man  were  the  sort  to  give  stout  to;  Mr. 
Henderson  thought  it  a  good  thing  to  do,  and 
Louis  explained  to  the  trader  that  it  was  given 
him  as  medicine,  not  as  a  beverage  to  be  handed 
round  to  others,  asking  him  to  promise  that  he 
would  drink  it  all  himself.  He  readily  enough 
gave  the  promise  but  said  in  that  case  Mr. 
Henderson  would  have  to  smuggle  it  over  to  him, 
as  he  must  drink  it  in  secret.  I  also  gave  him  a 
large  and  small  bottle  of  iron,  all  that  we  had, 
telling  him  when  that  was  done  to  put  nails  in 
his  drinking  water.  I  went  to  bed  early,  very  tired, 
but  was  driven  below  by  repeated  squalls,  and 
slept  on  the  saloon  floor. 

Not  long  ago  the  George  Noble  called  at  this 
island,  her  destination  being  the  island  of  Piru 
(pronounced  Peru).  The  natives  who  were  on 
board  heard  the  word  and  fled  incontinently,  nor 
could  they  be  persuaded  to  go  back;  the  dread 
word  *'Peru"  was  enough. 

2^th. — Left  Funafuti  early  this  morning.  After 
every  one  was  oflF,  Lloyd  photographed  the  ship's 
company  to  the  delight  of  the  black  boys,  who 
posed  themselves  with  great  dramatic  eff'ect. 

Arrived  at  Natau  after  dark.  Mr.  Hird  called  to 
us  that  there  was  another  vessel  close  at  hand. 

[95] 


f  T he    C ruis e    of 

We  rushed  on  deck  and  saw  a  schooner  putting 
up  a  light.  In  a  few  moments  the  mate  was  on 
board  the  Janet.  There  is  no  landing  at  this  island, 
and  an  unusually  heavy  swell  will  make  a  big 
surf  in  the  morning.  The  only  one  of  the  Ellices 
I  have  as  yet  seen  gave  me  such  an  unpleasant 
impression  that  I  shall  not  be  disappointed  if  I 
cannot  go  ashore. 

2<^th. — Early  this  morning  we  anchor  near  the 
schooner.  She  is  painted  white  and  looks  just  like 
the  Equator}  Louis  says  that  every  time  he  looks 
at  her  he  expects  to  see  ourselves.  There  seems  to 
be  great  excitement  aboard  the  little  vessel; 
canoes  filled  with  people  are  going  to  and  fro, 
continually,  between  her  and  the  shore.  Only  one 
canoe  has  as  yet  come  near  us;  it  was  filled  with 
women  who  paddled  about  the  ship,  following  my 
movements;  one  of  the  women  handsome,  and  the 
others  by  no  means  plain.  The  canoe  was  very 
long,  tapering  off  into  a  beautiful  fish's  tail, 
something  like  this:  N-m*v.  and  was  ornamented 
at  both  ends  with  ^^"^K^  mother-of-pearl  let 
into  the  wood  in  bands  and  patterns.  The 
people  here  wear  ridis,  not  so  good  as  the  Gil- 
berts, however.  The  ridis  are  too  full,  too  much 

^  We  made  a  former  cruise,  our  second,  in  the 
Equator,  a  little  trading  schooner. 

[96] 


Native  boys  selling  sail  on  S.  S.  "Janet  Xichol" 


the    ^^ Janet    NichoT' 

like  ballet-dancers'  skirts,  though  the  colour  is 
pleasantly  gay,  a  mixture  of  dull  red,  blackish 
maroon,  and  faded  yellow.  The  surf,  as  I  expected, 
was  too  high  for  us  to  get  on  shore  dry,  so  we  did 
not  attempt  it. 

In  the  afternoon  the  schooner  (of  8o-ton  bur- 
den) began  to  fill  up  with  natives;  we  were  told 
that  she  was  going  to  take  a  party  of  one  hun- 
dred and  eighty  people  on  an  excursion  round 
the  group,  for  which  a  lump  sum  of  twenty-five 
tons  of  copra  was  paid.  The  decks  of  the  little 
vessel  were  closely  packed  with  laughing,  chatter- 
ing people;  the  hum  of  their  voices  came  to  us 
like  the  sound  of  bees.  It  was  just  so,  not  very 
long  ago,  that  slave-ships  used  to  carry  them 
away.  "What  a  haul  that  would  be  for  labour!" 
remarked  Tin  Jack  when  he  first  caught  sight  of 
them. 

There  is  a  small  enclosed  lagoon  in  this  island. 
Tin  Jack,  while  on  shore,  broke  off  some  of  the 
reef  coral  and  found  it  full  of  the  same  living 
worms  as  Louis  discovered  before  on  the  other 
island,  only  here  there  were  two  varieties;  one 
like  a  pallid  earthworm  and  the  other  something 
like  a  small  centipede.  Tin  Jack  brought  me  a 
wreath  of  gardenias,  and  a  spray  of  scarlet  leaves. 
Mr.  Hird  brought  me  a  bunch  of  jack-fruit  leaves 

[97] 


The    Cruise    of 

to  polish  my  Tokalau  buckets  with.  Some  young 
banana  plants  were  sent  on  board,  I  suppose  for 
friends  on  another  island.^  Tin  Jack  was  strongly 
tempted  to  stop  here  as  is  his  custom  at  most  is- 
lands. The  trader  at  Natau  was  a  rather  dreadful- 
looking  person,  apparently  afflicted  with  leprosy. 
He  shook  hands  with  me,  to  my  dismay,  for  his 
fingers  were  dropping  off.  "I  think  Tve  got  some 
native  disease,"  said  the  poor  fellow  as  he  held 
out  his  hand. 

30/A. — Still  a  heavy  swell  and  the  surf  too  strong 
for  boats  to  venture  in.  A  great  crowd  of  natives 
on  shore  and  many  canoes  drawn  up  on  the 
beach.  Pretty  soon  the  canoes  swarmed  about  the 
ship  and  we  were  overrun  with  eager  venders  of 
merchandise,  mats,  chickens,  and  eggs.  One  man 
followed  me  about  beseeching  me  to  buy  a  silver 
half  dollar.  '*You  want  buy  money?"  said  he. 
*'How  much  tobac  you  give?"  I  bought  one  mat 
for  ten  sticks  of  tobacco,  one  for  a  comb,  and  one 
for  a  pattern  of  calico.  I  saw  Mr.  Henderson,  in 
the  midst  of  the  harassing  business  of  weighing 
copra,  stop  and  paint  a  broad  mark,  with  violet 
ink,   down  the  breast  of  a  fine  young  lad  who 

^  This  must  have  been  a  high-low  island,  though  in 
many  atolls  the  earth  is  brought  in  schooner  loads  in 
which  trees  and  flowers  flourish. 

[98] 


the    ^^ Janet    NichoV' 

swaggered  about  afterward  with  a  conscious  air 
of  superiority. 

For  a  long  time  we  saw  no  women,  but  at  last 
a  canoe  containing  two,  pretty  and  young,  was 
seen  paddling  wildly  up  and  down  beside  the 
ship;  the  women  were  shouting  for  a  sight  of  the 
^^ Beretani  fafine'^  (white  woman).  I  was  called, 
and  showed  myself,  whereupon  they  threw  up 
their  hands  and  shouted  with  excitement.  Soon 
after  this  I  met  on  the  companion  stairs  the  cap- 
tain, half  dragging,  half  persuading  one  of  the 
young  women  I  had  seen  in  the  canoe  to  come 
down  to  the  saloon.  Naturally  she  did  not  under- 
stand that  he  was  only  trying  to  bring  her  to  me. 
At  the  sight  of  me  she  gave  a  cry  and,  breaking 
loose  from  the  captain,  flung  herself  upon  me 
and  clung  to  me  like  a  frightened  child.  I  could  feel 
her  heart  beating  against  my  breast  and  she 
was  trembling  from  head  to  foot.  As  she  held  me 
she  bent  down,  for  she  was  taller  than  I,  and 
smiled  in  my  face.  Plainer  than  words  her  smile 
said:  "You  are  a  woman,  too;  I  can  trust  you; 
you  will  protect  me,  will  you  not?"  I  put  my  arm 
round  her  and  talked  to  her  in  Enghsh  and  tried 
to  soothe  her  fears.  She  understood  my  English  as 
well  as  I  her  smiles.  I  brought  her  into  the  saloon 
and  Louis  gave  her  sweetmeats;  she  turned  to  me 

[99] 


The    Cruise    of 

with  a  gesture  that  asked  if  they  were  safe  to  eat. 
She  had  already  a  bit  of  ship's  biscuit  tightly 
clinched  in  her  hand,  and  of  that  she  alternately 
took  a  bite  with  the  sweetmeats;  but  at  the  sound 
of  a  footstep  she  was  trembling  again  and  would 
throw  her  arms  round  me  with  the  same  pathetic, 
questioning  smile.  I  placed  a  wreath  of  yellow 
and  red  tulips  on  her  pretty  head — she  was  a 
lovely  young  creature — and  the  captain  brought 
her  a  necklace  of  large  blue  beads  and  a  pair  of 
earrings.  All  the  while,  though  I  did  not  know  it, 
the  girl's  father  was  hanging  about  the  companion 
way  with  a  very  dangerous  expression  on  his 
countenance. 

After  a  little,  another  woman,  seeing  that  no 
harm  came  to  the  first,  was  persuaded  to  come 
down  to  the  saloon  where  she  stood,  quivering 
and  starting  like  a  timid,  wild  animal,  ready  to 
fly  at  a  sound.  The  difference  between  this  place 
and  Manihiki  is  very  marked.  So  far  from  there 
being  any  fear  shown  in  Manihiki,  the  very  chil- 
dren pushed  through  the  darkness  to  clasp  the 
white  man's  hand,  and  after  that  there  was  no 
getting  rid  of  the  gentle,  affectionate,  little  crea- 
tures. I  remember,  at  Manihiki,  seeing  Louis  sit- 
ting with  a  tall  boy  of  fourteen,  beautiful  as  an 
angel,  holding  him  round  the  neck,  a  young  girl 

[  loo] 


the    ^ '  J  an  et    N  icJio  T  ' 

leaning  over  his  shoulder,  while  a  little  child 
nestled  up  to  his  breast.  But  these  islands  were  a 
favourite  recruiting  place  for  slavers  and,  worse 
still,  a  haunt  of  the  loathsome  ''Bully  Hayes."  I 
gave  a  wreath  to  the  other  girl  also,  and  after 
Lloyd  (they  seemed  to  have  no  instinctive  fear 
of  either  Lloyd  or  Louis)  had  sprinkled  them  with 
scent  from  a  bottle  of  "Jockey  Club"  they  pad- 
dled to  the  shore  to  be  met  by  a  crowd  of  friends 
who  rushed  into  the  surf  up  to  their  necks  to 
hear  the  news.  The  wreaths,  necklaces,  and  ear- 
rings were  taken  off  and  examined,  criticised, 
and  tried  on  by  all  who  could  get  hold  of  them; 
the  excitement  was  tremendous.  All  the  while 
the  young  girl  was  in  the  saloon  the  three  large 
port-holes  were  entirely  closed  up  by  the  faces 
of  men,  who  watched  every  movement  with  the 
keenest  anxiety. 

In  the  meantime  the  ship  was  noisy  with  the 
squawking  of  fowls  and  the  squealing  of  pigs. 
The  latter  are  of  a  curious  mouse  colour  and  most 
amiable  creatures.  Later  on  our  pretty  girl,  ac- 
companied by  an  elder  sister,  very  handsome,  and 
the  startled  one  who  had  visited  me  before,  came 
back  to  the  ship.  Lloyd  took  the  younger  girl's 
photograph  at  the  end  of  the  bridge.  I  had  to 
stand  beside  her  with  my  arm  round  her  for  some 

[loi] 


The    Cruise    of 

time  before  she  would  keep  In  one  spot  long 
enough  for  the  camera  to  be  pointed  at  her. 
Though  much  less  frightened,  she  was  still  sus- 
picious. She  brought  a  chicken  and  some  cocoa- 
nuts  for  a  present  to  me,  also  another  fowl  which 
she  wished  to  exchange  for  a  comb,  and  a  mat 
to  exchange  for  cotton  print,  both  of  which  I 
gave  her.  The  startled  one  brought  some  shells 
which  she  wished  to  have  me  understand  cancelled 
the  gift  of  the  wreath.  I  wish  I  knew  how  to  ex- 
plain that  I  do  not  want  return  gifts;  but  that 
might  be  an  unpardonable  breach  of  etiquette. 

I  was  sitting  on  a  box  near  the  trade  room 
when  a  fine,  intelligent-looking  man,  a  missionary 
from  another  island,  came  up  and  began  talking 
to  me.  Unfortunately,  his  English  was  so  hopeless 
that  I  could  understand  but  Httle  that  he  said, 
except  that  a  native  he  presented  to  me  was  the 
King,  and  that  if  we  would  call  at  the  island  on 
our  way  back  there  would  be  an  immense  load  of 
copra  ready.  The  King  had  a  look  of  breeding, 
and  only  one  of  his  ear-lobes  hung  down  to  his 
shoulder  in  the  native  fashion,  the  other  having 
somehow  miscarried.  The  outer  rim  of  the  ear  is 
sliced  round  and  grafted  against  the  jaw,  thus 
making  a  much  larger  hole  than  can  be  managed 
at  the  Gilberts  with  mere  boring  and  stretching. 

[102] 


the    ^^  Janet    N  ichoV  ' 

Moving  through  the  crowds  on  deck  were  three 
unmistakable  lepers,  one  with  elephantiasis  also. 
The  toes  of  the  man  with  elephantiasis  were  drip- 
ping blood,  not  very  pleasant  for  us  barefooted 
people.  I  have  asked  the  steward  to  hang  all  the 
mats,  some  of  which  are  very  handsomely  deco- 
rated, over  the  side  when  next  we  anchor  and 
let  them  be  thoroughly  washed  by  the  sea.  Just 
before  we  left  the  King  asked  for  me;  he  had 
brought  me  a  present  of  a  large  mat,  a  bunch  of 
husked  cocoanuts,  and  a  very  fine  ridi^  of  different 
colours.  I  bought  one,  also,  not  so  fine,  from  a 
woman  for  seven  sticks  of  tobacco.  I  had  nothing 
to  give  the  King  in  return  for  his  present — I  am 
bound  to  say  he  seemed  to  expect  nothing — so  I 
pulled  a  gold  ring  from  my  finger  and  gave  him 
that.  He  was  overcome  by  the  magnificence  of 
the  gift,  as  were  the  crowd  who  gathered  round 
him  to  examine  it. 

During  dinner  we  weighed  anchor  and  shoved 
off.  The  captain  had  expected  to  meet  the  schooner 

^  The  ridi  is  the  only  garment  worn  by  the  women 
In  most  of  the  atolls.  It  is  a  thick  fringe,  shorter  or 
longer,  according  to  the  prevailing  fashion  in  ridis,  made 
of  pandanus  leaves  cut  in  strips,  oiled,  and  smoked. 
In  the  Gilberts  a  man  may  not  lay  his  hands  on  a  ridi 
under  penalty  of  death,  even  when  the  garment  is 
not  in  active  service. 

[103] 


The    Cruise    of 

at  this  island;  there  were  no  signs  of  her  until 
late  at  night,  when  she  was  sighted,  apparently 
on  a  wrong  tack.  The  captain  fears  they  may  be 
out  longer  than  they  expected  and  the  provisions 
run  out;  however,  there  are  always  the  twenty- 
five  tons  of  copra  at  hand  in  case  of  an  emergency, 
and  the  passengers  can  eat  their  currency,  which 
is  more  than  we  would  be  able  to  do.  The  Janet 
has  taken  to  her  old  trick  of  rolling,  which  makes 
things  very  uncomfortable.  When  I  went  to  bed 
the  cackling  of  hens,  the  crowing  of  cocks,  and 
the  grunting  of  pigs  gave  quite  the  effect  of  a 
farmyard.  Our  three  cats  seem  to  be  getting  the 
"rattage"  well  under;  at  least  there  are  no  more 
rats  on  deck  and  the  old,  businesslike  Tom  now 
takes  his  ease  and  sleeps  all  night. 

2,ist. — The  Island  of  Nanui.  A  very  violent 
surf  and  very  broad.  Louis  goes  on  shore  and  re- 
turns with  a  mat.  Tin  Jack  is  in  great  feather  as 
the  Nanui  people  speak  the  Gilbert  Island  tongue 
which  he  knows.  Louis  is  instantly  accepted  as 
a  kaupoi  (rich  man),  though  he  cannot  imagine 
why,  as  he  was  clothed  only  in  an  old,  ragged 
undershirt  and  a  lava-lava. 

June  isty  Sunday. — Still  at  Nanui.  Mr.  Hen- 
derson asked  his  black  boys,  as  he  was  afraid  of 
a  change  of  weather,  to  work  to-day.  He  said  it 

[104] 


the    ^^  Janet    Nichol 


was  a  case  of  necessity,  so  they  consented  and  fell 
to  like  good  fellows.  After  work  was  done  they 
all  gathered  together,  as  is  their  custom  on  Sun- 
day, and  held  a  service.  It  was  strange  to  hear 
them  singing  a  Scotch  hymn  tune  with  words  in 
their  own  tongue — or  tongues,  I  should  say. 

id. — Still  taking  on  copra.  Johnny,  one  of  our 
men,  the  cleverest  one,  brought  his  wife,  a  native 
of  Nanui,  to  see  me — a  strapping  fat  wench  of 
sixteen,  though  she  looks  twenty-five.  I  gave  her 
some  cotton  print  and  a  silk  handkerchief.  A 
little  after  Johnny  came,  with  a  most  serious 
countenance,  to  ask  Louis  to  go  on  deck,  where 
he  found  a  large,  mouse-coloured  pig  and  a  great 
pile  of  cocoanuts  awaiting  him.  Among  the  peo- 
ple on  deck  I  saw  a  man  the  facsimile  of  the 
leper  at  the  last  island;  involuntarily,  I  looked  at 
his  feet,  and,  sure  enough,  the  poor  fellow  had 
elephantiasis  also. 

The  captain  offers  to  make  me  a  plan  of  a  surf- 
riding  canoe.  There  was  a  light  rain  last  night 
which  the  captain  thinks  must  have  fallen  on 
my  eyes,  as  they  are  inflamed  and  swollen  to-day. 
When  rain  in  these  latitudes  touches  the  captain's 
eyes,  which  happens  often  on  the  bridge,  he  is 
affected  in  the  same  way. 

/{th. — At  the  Island  of  Nanomea.  Two  traders 

[105] 


The    Cruise    of 

come  on  board,  the  company's  trader  known 
through  the  groups  as  "Lord "  and  an  ''in- 
dependent" trader,  a  pathetic  figure  of  an  old 
man  with  both  legs  bound  up;  he  said  he  suffered 
from  boils.  Soon  after,  the  missionary  and  his 
wife  came  on  board,  both  Samoans,  the  woman 
a  fine,  kindly  looking  creature  with  a  very  sad 
expression.  I  said  as  much  to  Louis  and  she 
wished  my  remark  translated.  With  the  aid  of  a 
dictionary  Louis  told  her  what  I  had  said.  "I  am 
sad,"  was  the  reply.  She  brought  me  a  present 
of  a  mat,  and  I  gave  her  a  print  gown.  I  bought, 
also,  a  few  mats  from  the  people.  One  man,  fol- 
lowed me  about,  insisting  that  he  and  I  should 
be  brothers.  He  had  a  mercenary  countenance, 
wherefore  I  refused  steadily  the  proffered  relation- 
ship. In  spite  of  me,  however,  he  managed  to 
thrust  a  bunch  of  cocoanuts  into  my  cabin  door 
to  ratify  the  tie. 

The  surf  is  very  high.  When  the  boats  went  off, 
the  one  containing  the  traders  and  the  mission- 
aries turned  over,  end  for  end,  and  the  poor,  old 
"independent"  was  nearly  drowned.  The  mission- 
ary woman  dived  for  him  again  and  again,  and 
we  could  see  people  carrying  him  along  the  beach 
after  she  rescued  him.  Several  canoes  smashed 
during  the  day  and  some  bags  of  copra  were  lost. 

[io6] 


the    ^^ Janet    NichoT* 

In  the  evening  we   had   a   long  discussion  as  to 

whether  Lord is  a  gentleman,  I  taking  the 

affirmative  with  no  more  to  go  upon  than  the 
way  he  raised  his  hat. 

jth. — Have  been  lying  at  Nanomea,  the  last  of 
the  EUices  we  shall  visit,  for  three  days,  unable 
to  get  the  cargo  on  board  till  to-day  owing  to  the 
fearful  surf.  A  good  many  canoes  are  broken  to 
pieces,  and  our  own  boats  have  had  many  escapes. 
While  I  was  looking  through  the  glasses  a  great 
wave  swamped  one  of  our  boats  and  pressed  her 
down  out  of  sight.  In  a  moment  black  heads 
popped  up  everywhere  and  the  boat  was  hauled 
on  shore.  Another  boat  was  just  on  the  point  of 
crossing  when  the  steersman  was  snapped  off  his 
perch  and  flung  into  the  sea;  he  was  almost  in- 
stantly back  and  crossed  in  triumph.  Every  suc- 
cess was  cheered  from  the  ship  by  the  watching 
men. 

It  is  always  a  great  pleasure  to  the  natives  to 
help  raise  the  ship's  boats  to  the  davits  for  the 
night.  They  know  that  white  sailors  make  a  sort 
of  cry  or  "chanty"  when  hauling  on  a  rope,  so 
they,  too,  try  to  do  the  correct  thing.  The  result 
is  a  noise  very  like  a  mob  of  schoolgirls  let  loose, 
a  confusion  of  soprano  screams.  No  one  would 
suspect  the  sounds  to  come  from  the  throats  of 

[107] 


The    Cruise    of 

men.  Our  own  black  sailors  are  the  same;  we  hear 
them  screaming  and  laughing  in  the  forecastle 
exactly  like  girls.  We  are  so  used  to  island  life 
that  it  has  but  just  struck  us  as  odd  and  pictur- 
esque that  our  almost  naked  sailors  (they  wear 
only  a  short  lava-lava  round  their  loins)  should 
be  working  in  wreaths  like  queens  of  the  May. 

It  is  only  to-day  that  any  women  have  been 
able  to  get  on  board.  Not  knowing  there  were 
any  on  deck,  I  started  toward  the  trade  room. 
There  was  an  instant  loud  cry  of  ''  Fafine!  Beretani 
Jafine!''  and  I  was  in  the  midst  of  them.  The  two 
who  seemed  of  higher  rank  than  the  others  took 
possession  of  me,  and  it  was  explained  to  me  by 
our  Johnny  that  they  had  come  prepared  to  make 
a  trade.  Each  had  an  elaborate  ridi  for  which  she 
wanted  two  patterns  of  cotton  print.  The  bargain 
seemed  so  unfair  that  I  added  a  necklace  apiece 
of  yellow  and  white  beads.  They  were  enchanted 
with  the  necklaces,  calling  everybody  to  look  at 
them.  Then  they  began  pulling  off  their  rings  to 
put  on  my  hands;  I  did  not  like  taking  their  rings, 
but  I  need  have  had  no  scruples,  for  one  of  them 
with  prompt  energy  removed  a  gold  ring  from  my 
finger  to  her  own.  These  exchanges  made,  they 
fell  to  examining  my  clothes,  which  filled  them 
with  admiration.  The  next  thing,  they  were  try- 

[io8] 


the    '^ Janet    NichoT' 

ing  to  take  my  clothes  off;  finding  this  stoutly  re- 
sisted, they  turned  up  my  sleeves  to  the  shoulders. 
Their  taste  differed  from  mine,  for,  while  I  was 
thinking  what  a  cold,  ugly  colour  a  white  arm 
looked  beside  their  warm,  brown  ones,  they  were 
crying  out  in  admiration.  One  woman  kissed  my 
feet  (the  island  kiss)  and  sniffed  softly  up  and 
down  my  arms.  She  was  plainly  saying  to  the 
others,  "She's  just  Hke  a  pickaninny;  I  would  like 
to  have  her  for  a  pet,"  holding  out  her  arms  as 
she  spoke  and  going  through  the  motions  of  toss- 
ing and  caressing  a  baby.  My  hands  and  feet 
were  measured  by  theirs  and  found  to  be  much 
smaller  (they  were  large  women  made  on  a  more 
generous  scale  than  I).  ''Pickaninny  hands  and 
feet,"  they  said.  The  discovery  of  vaccination 
marks  caused  great  excitement,  especially  as  one 
of  them  could  proudly  show  similar  "  BeritanV* 
marks.  Whether  they  were  real  vaccination  scars 
or  only  accidental,  I  could  not  be  sure.  She,  how- 
ever, declared  that  they  were  true  Beritani. 
Suddenly  they  all  began  calhng  out  names;  there 
were  now  five  or  six  women  sitting  in  a  circle 
round  me  on  the  floor  of  the  corridor  at  the  head 
of  the  companion  stairs.  In  a  moment  all  their 
husbands'  heads  appeared  at  the  doors  and  win- 
dows. My  sleeves,  in  spite  of  my  struggles,  were 

[109] 


The    Cruise    of 

dragged  to  my  shoulders  and,  to  my  dismay,  my 
petticoats  were  whipped  up  to  my  knees.  At  that 
I  began  to  cry,  when  the  men  instantly  disap- 
peared, and  except  for  an  occasional  sniffing  the 
women  behaved  with  more  decorum.  One  woman 
was  most  anxious  that  I  should  stop  on  the  island 
with  her.  I  really  think  she  had  some  hope  that 
she  might  keep  me  as  a  sort  of  pet  monkey.  At 
last  they  were  warned  that  the  ship  would  be  off 
soon,  so  they  fled  to  their  canoes. 

For  some  time  eight  or  ten  canoes,  loaded  with 
people,  hung  to  the  ship's  sides,  rocking  to  and 
fro  with  her  as  she  rolled.  It  was  a  beautiful  sight, 
and  Louis  and  I  leaned  over  admiring  them.  Sud- 
denly a  lovely  young  girl  (we  were  told  she  is  to 
be  married  next  week)  climbed  up  to  me  like  a 
cat,  pulled  off  a  ring,  and  pushed  it  on  my  finger. 
I  ran  back  and  got  a  blue-bead  necklace  for  her 
and  she  climbed  down  in  a  state  of  great  delight. 
The  beads  will  doubtless  serve  as  wedding  jewels, 
for  she  did  not  put  them  on  but  tied  them  up 
carefully  in  a  bit  of  cotton  stuff.  We  watched  the 
canoes  go  over  the  surf;  one,  filled  with  women, 
upset,  but  nobody  appeared  to  mind  so  small  a 
mishap. 

Mr.  Hird  tells  us  a  story  It  is  well  to  remember. 
There  was  some  sort  of  disturbance  at  Penrhyn, 

[no] 


the    ^  ^  J  an  et    N  i  cho  T  * 

where  his  vessel  was  trading,  and  all  on  the  ship 
were  afraid  for  their  lives  to  go  ashore  except 
himself.  The  moment  his  boat  touched  ground  he 
dashed  up  to  a  little  maid  of  seven,  the  chief's 
daughter,  and,  taking  her  by  the  hand,  calmly 
walked  to  where  he  wished  to  go. 

Last  night,  as  we  were  sitting  round  the  lamp, 
some  one  looked  up  and  perceived  that  all  three 
port-holes  had  as  many  faces  looking  through  them 
as  could  find  an  eyehole.  Mr.  Henderson  went 
into  his  room  and  arranged  a  few  conjuring  tricks. 
When  he  returned  he  made  money  disappear  in  a 
box,  bits  of  cork  change  places,  etc.  While  speak- 
ing to  one  of  us  he  carelessly  tore  off  a  piece  of 
newspaper  and  handed  it  to  a  man  at  the  port- 
hole, but  as  the  man's  fingers  closed  on  it  the 
paper  disappeared.  "  Tiaporo!"  (the  devil!)  he 
cried,  his  eyes  almost  starting  from  his  head. 
This  was  followed  by  the  throwing  up  of  money 
which  apparently  fell  back  through  the  crown  of 
a  hat  and  jingled  inside.  The  last  and  most  thrill- 
ing feat  was  after  Mr.  Henderson  had  been  pull- 
ing money  from  all  our  heads,  noses,  and  ears. 
He  seemed  to  be  retiring  quietly  to  his  room  when 
he  gave  a  start,  looked  up  in  the  air  over  his  head, 
and  with  a  leap  caught  a  silver  dollar  that  seemed 
to  be  falling  from  the  ceiling. 

[Ill] 


The    Cruise    of 

I  forgot  to  say  that  In  the  afternoon  Louis  was 
dictating  to  Lloyd,  who  used  his  typewriter.  All 
the  air  and  most  of  the  light  was  cut  off  from  them 
by  heads  at  the  port-holes.  I  watched  the  faces 
and  saw  one  intelligent  old  man  explaining  to  the 
others  that  Lloyd  was  playing  an  accompaniment 
to  Louis's  singing;  the  old  man  several  times  tried 
to  follow  the  tune  but  found  it  impossible.  He 
did  not  appear  to  think  It  a  good  song,  and  once, 
with  difficulty,  restrained  his  laughter. 

<^th. — We  should  have  picked  up  Aroral  yester- 
day at  four  o'clock,  but  somehow  missed  It  and 
did  not  arrive  until  this  morning.  An  atoll  about 
six  miles  long,  the  first  of  the  Kingsmills  (or  Gil- 
berts). Natives  swarmed  round  the  ship  in  canoes 
built  somewhat  after  the  pattern  of  the  American 
Indian  birch-bark  canoe.  The  pieces  are  tied  to- 
gether with  cocoanut  sennit  and  the  boats  leak 
like  sieves.  Louis,  Lloyd,  and  I  went  on  shore  In 
the  afternoon,  Louis,  to  my  distress,  for  It  was 
very  hot,  with  a  hammer  to  break  off  bits  of  the 
reef  for  examination  and  Lloyd  with  the  camera. 
Louis  found  the  rock  he  wished  to  break  but  was 
a  little  afraid  to  use  the  force  necessary.  Seeing  a 
powerful  young  man  standing  near,  he  offered  a 
stick  of  tobacco  for  the  job.  The  fellow  smiled 
with   delight,  took  the  hammer,  and  struck  one 

[112] 


the    ''''Janet    N ichol 


)  t 


blow.  "Too  much  work,"  said  he,  dropping  the 
hammer. 

•  Lloyd  and  I  were  taken  in  tow  by  an  old  man 
and  led  to  the  house  of  the  missionary,  who  was 
himself  on  board  the  ship;  but  his  wife  and  family, 
a  handsome  young  Samoan  woman  with  a  pair 
of  sickly  twins,  were  at  the  door  to  give  us  wel- 
come. We  drank  cocoanuts  with  her  and  took  a 
photograph  of  the  group. 

There  is  very  little  soil  on  the  island,  which  is 
subject  to  severe  droughts;  yet  there  are  a  num- 
ber of  breadfruit  and  jack-fruit  trees  growing 
luxuriantly,  not  many,  however,  old  enough  to 
bear.  The  village  looked  clean  and  prosperous. 
Children  and  women  were  pulling  weeds  and  car- 
rying them  away  in  baskets.  Lloyd  and  I  strolled 
along  a  wide  avenue  that  ran  through  the  town 
for  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  stopping  once  to 
photograph  an  old  woman  who  had  evidently 
dressed  up  for  the  ship.  She  was  standing  in  the 
doorway  of  a  neat  house  built  of  stockades  tied 
together — the  first  I've  seen  in  these  islands.  The 
house  belonged  to  a  trader  who  was  abroad  at 
the  time.  Returning,  we  saw  two  women,  tall  and 
superior  in  carriage  and  looks  to  the  common 
people,  marching  abreast  toward  us;  they  were 
dressed  in  gala-day  ridis  of  smoked  and  oiled  pan- 

[113] 


The    Cruise    of 

danus  strips  and  swung  the  heavy  fringe  from 
side  to  side,  as  they  walked,  in  the  most  approved 
and  latest  style.  As  they  came  nearer  to  us  their 
four  eyes  were  fixed  on  the  horizon  behind  us,  and 
they  swaggered  past  as  though  unaware  of  our  ex- 
istence, though  we  were  attended  by  a  following 
of  the  greater  part  of  the  village.  I  stopped  and 
looked  after  them,  but  neither  turned  a  head.^ 

At  the  veranda  of  the  mission  house  we  found 
Louis  entertained  by  the  old  man  and  indignant 
at  receiving  no  attention  from  the  missionary 
people;  we  suggested  that  his  chopping  at  the 
reef  in  the  hot  sun  had  convinced  them  that  he 
was  a  lunatic. 

We  had  heard  of  a  sick  trader,  so  we  all  three 
went  to  his  house  with  an  immense  tail  of  fol- 
lowers, who  seated  themselves  outside  in  a  circle 
eight  or  ten  deep  while  we  talked  to  the  sick  man. 
A  forlorn  being  he  looked,  lying  on  a  mat,  his  head 
thrust  out  into  the  open  through  the  thatched 
sides  of  the  hut  to  catch  what  air  there  was. 
He  had  been  ill  a  month  and  a  half,  he  said;  the 
whole  population  had  been  ill,  also,  his  wife  and 
children  with  the  rest.  With  them  it  came  first 

^  At  this  island  I  remember  that  the  women  wore 
what  looked  like  doll's  hats  as  ornaments  on  their 
heads.  They  were  about  the  size  of  the  top  of  a  tumbler. 

[114] 


the    '^ Janet    NichoT^ 

as  a  rash,  then  a  fever,  followed  by  convalescence. 
He  had  no  rash,  but  after  feeling  very  badly  for 
a  week  or  two,  fell  down  in  a  fit,  foaming  at  the 
mouth  and  black  in  the  face.  Since  then  he  had 
been  suffering  from  an  intolerable  pain  in  the 
head  and  could  not  stand  for  weakness.  I  asked 
if  he  had  proper  food,  which  Louis  followed  by 
asking  if  his  appetite  was  good.  When  he  could  get 
anything  to  eat,  he  replied,  he  liked  it  well  enough; 
but  he  could  not  get  anything.  A  bit  of  fish  or  a 
chicken  he  could  rehsh,  but  the  people  seldom 
fished  and  a  chicken  was  impossible.  His  food 
consisted  almost  entirely  of  pounded  pandanus 
seeds,  in  which  there  was  about  as  much  nourish- 
ment as  in  chopped  straw.  His  hands  and  feet  were 
palHd  and  bloodless  and  he  looked  very  near  the 
end.  He  was  born,  he  said,  in  Colton  Terrace, 
Edinburgh.  'Tm  frae  Edinburgh  mysel',''  said 
Louis.  "We  are  far  frae  hame,"  returned  the  poor 
fellow  with  a  sigh.  We  went  at  once  to  the  beach 
to  get  a  boat,  intending  to  consult  "Hartshorn," 
our  medical  authority,  as  to  his  case,  which  I  be- 
lieved to  be  suppressed  measles.  Louis  spoke  to 
Mr.  Henderson  about  sending  the  man  a  case  of 
soups  to  begin  with,  anything  heavier  being  danger- 
ous in  his  weak  state  and  semistarved  condition. 
Mr.  Henderson,  who  is  generosity  itself,  seemed 

[115] 


The    Cruise    of 

rather  hurt  that  we  had  not  taken  it  for  granted 
that  anything  the  man  needed  would  be  supplied 
him  at  once.  Mr.  Henderson's  only  fear  was  that 
the  man  would,  in  the  usual  native  custom,  give 
all  the  food  away.  He  first  divides  with  his  family, 
and  then  they  divide  with  the  outside  relations,  so 
that  provisions  sufficient  for  a  month  may  only 
last  a  day.  It  is  an  amiable  weakness,  certainly, 
but  one  could  wish  that  the  recipients  of  his 
bounty  showed  a  little  more  gratitude.  Fishing 
would  be  no  more  than  play  for  them;  but  I  fear 
neither  fish,  flesh,  nor  fowl  can  save  him  now. 

The  missionary  who  came  aboard  showed  Louis 
his  eye,  in  which  he  was  blind,  the  effect  of  measles, 
and  begged  for  a  cure.  Of  course  there  was  none, 
but  Louis  advised  him  to  live  as  generously  as 
possible  and,  instead  of  a  continual  diet  of  panda- 
nus  seeds,  to  try  and  get  some  fish.  As  soon  as  it 
was  dark  the  sea  was  crowded  with  fishing-boats, 
lighted  up  with  flaring  torches,  made  by  wrapping 
sennit  round  a  dry  cocoanut  leaf;  so  we  hope  our 
poor  trader  may  receive  some  benefit,  also.  We 
could  see  that  they  were  scooping  up  in  their  nets 
many  flying-fish.  The  light  from  the  torch  attracts 
the  fish,  which  come  to  the  surface  of  the  water 
round  the  boats  and  are  then  dipped  up  in  little 
nets  on  the  ends  of  long  poles. 

[ii6] 


the    ''Janet    N ichor' 

While  I  was  resting  after  my  excursion  to  the 
island  I  heard  a  great  commotion;  a  native  had 
been  discovered  trying  to  stow  away  in  the  hold 
among  the  coal.  Two  large  men  could  not  over- 
power him,  and  for  a  long  time  he  refused  to  come 
out.  One  of  the  white  firemen  finally  leaned  over 
the  open  hatch  and  held  out  a  stick  of  tobacco. 
"Won't  you  come  out  for  that?"  he  asked  with 
an  insinuating  smile.  "He  is  making  signs  that  he 
will,"  he  continued,  looking  at  me  quite  proud  of 
his  cleverness.  Sure  enough,  up  came  the  native, 
a  beautiful  youth  with  a  sullen  face  and  blazing 
eyes.  He  strode  haughtily  past  the  fireman,  look- 
ing neither  at  him  nor  his  proff'ered  tobacco, 
sprang  upon  the  side  of  the  ship,  where  he  bal- 
anced himself  a  moment,  and  then  jumped  into 
the  sea  and  swam  ashore.  I  sympathised  with 
the  boy  and  was  sorry  he  was  caught,  the  more 
especially  that  another  man  had  chosen  a  better 
hiding-place  and  was  not  discovered  until  we 
were  well  at  sea. 

When  we  left  the  island  we  should  have  sig- 
nalled a  boat,  but  a  canoe  lying  at  hand,  we  took 
that  instead.  We  waded  out  toward  the  canoe,  but, 
as  the  water  began  rising  above  my  knees,  I  stopped 
in  alarm  when  a  native  caught  me  up  in  his  arms, 
unawares,  before  I  had  time  to  arrange  my  skirts, 

[117] 


The    Cruise    of 

and  I  was  carried  out,  willy-nilly,  my  legs  waving 
frantically  in  the  air.  I  tried  to  shield  them  from 
the  view  of  the  ship  with  my  umbrella,  which  I 
was  unable  to  open,  but  I  fear  ray  means  were  in- 
adequate. The  canoe  was  a  fourth  filled  with 
water;  its  owner  sternly  commanded  Louis  and 
me  to  bail  and  Lloyd  to  paddle. 

From  the  last  island  we  took  on  some  passengers 
— two  cats  in  an  onion  crate — and  at  this  island 
exchanged  them  for  a  woman  and  a  sickly  baby. 
I  was  much  amazed  at  seeing  the  mother  spread 
a  thick,  dry  mat  on  the  wet  deck  for  her  own  com- 
fort, her  baby  being  planted  on  the  cold  boards. 
I  made  her  take  it  up  and  lay  it  beside  her  on  the 
mat,  which  seemed  to  amuse  her  a  great  deal. 
As  the  baby  still  shivered,  I  got  an  old  lava-lava 
of  Tin  Jack's  and  wrapped  it  up  in  that,  charging 
the  mother  not  to  dare  remove  the  lava-lava. 

This  is  the  island  where,  in  1871,  three  slave- 
ships,  the  Moroa  (bark),  Eugenie  (schooner),  and 
a  barkentine,  name  unknown,  came  for  "recruits." 
The  King,  in  his  fright,  offered  them  all  his  peo- 
ple except  the  very  young,  the  very  old,  and  a  few 
young  girls  reserved  for  his  harem.  It  is  needless 
to  say  that  his  offer  was  accepted.  I  have  since 
met  and  conversed  with  a  man  who  was  on  board 
one  of  these  ships. 

[118] 


the    ^^ Janet    NichoV^ 

12th. — Arrived  early  this  morning  at  Onoatoa. 
The  missionary's  child  is  named  Painkiller, 

I'^th. — Noukanau  in  the  morning.  Met  the  Ger- 
man "labour"  brig  Cito,  after  recruits,  doubtless 
for  Samoa;  then  ran  over  to  Piru  and  back  again 
to  Noukanau  at  night.  At  Piru  we  met  the  Ameri- 
can schooner  Lizzie  with  two  passengers. 

At  Peru  came  on  board  a  man  named  Cameron, 
another  named  Briggs,  and  a  person  with  an  Italian 
name  I  forget.  Briggs  said  he  made  much  more 
money  by  "doctoring"  than  by  trading.  A  strange 
disease,  he  told  us,  had  broken  out  in  the  island; 
the  Samoan  wife  of  a  trader  had  died  the  night 
before  and  many  others  were  down  with  it.  It  is 
contagious,  and  the  natives  take  no  care  to  avoid 
infection.  I  said  it  was  measles,  which  Briggs 
denied,  declaring  it  was  typhus.  I  asked  him  where 
he  got  his  knowledge  of  "doctoring."  "Straight 
from  my  father,"  said  he;  "my  father  was  the 
celebrated  Doctor  Briggs,  and  if  you  buy  a  bottle 
of  his  patent  medicine  you  can  read  an  account 
of  his  life  on  the  wrapper." 

Cameron  is  a  Scotsman  with  a  twinkling,  hard 
blue  eye,  the  daft  Scotch  eye.  He  followed  every 
word  we  said  with  sly  caution  (partly,  no  doubt, 
in  consequence  of  drink)  as  though  he  feared 
being  trapped  into  some  dangerous  admission.  He 

[119] 


The    Cruise    of 

was  one  of  the  men  of  the  Wandering  Minstrel  that 
was  so  mysteriously  wrecked  on  Midway  Island, 
and  was  afterward  charged  by  the  captain  with 
not  reporting  the  fact  of  there  being  other  starv- 
ing castaways  left  on  Midway  when  he  was  rescued. 
To  us  he  denied  this  vehemently,  and  said  he  at 
once  delivered  a  letter  written  by  the  captain. 
Louis  tried  to  get  a  hint  of  how  and  why  the  vessel 
was  wrecked,  but  failed.  "Mosey,"  the  Chinaman 
who  was  in  the  boat  with  Cameron,  was  after- 
ward wrecked  again  on  the  Tiernan,  the  schooner 
we  so  nearl}^  took  passage  in  ourselves.^  Louis 
got  this  much  from  Cameron — but  I  am  sure  very 
little,  if  any,  of  it  is  true — that  he  had  written  an 
account  of  the  wreck  which,  with  the  log  he  kept 
on  the  boat,  had  been  left  on  one  of  the  islands 
we  are  about  to  visit,  for  safe-keeping.  Before 
Cameron  left  he  had  given  Louis  a  signed  order 
for  the  apocryphal  manuscript.  Of  the  two  men 
we  brought  one  back  with  us.  Captain  Smith, 
who,  having  lost  his  schooner  on  this  island,  re- 
mained as  a  trader.  He  seemed  a  modest,  intelli- 
gent young  man,  rather  above  the  South  Sea  aver- 
age. Tom  Day,  however,  is — must  be — the  "flower 
of  the  Pacific."  Tom  is  fifty  years  of  age,  with  a 

^  When  we  were  accidentally  marooned  at  Apemama 
during  a  former  cruise. 

[  I20] 


Tom  Day — a  trader  of  Noukanau  Island 


the    '  ^  J anet    N ichor  * 

strong,  alert  figure  and  the  mobile  face  of  an  actor; 
his  eyes  are  blue-grey  in  deep  orbits,  blazing  with 
energy  and  drink  and  high  spirits.  "Tom  Day"  is 
not  his  real  name,  he  says,  and  Tom  Drunk  would 
do  quite  as  well;  he  had  found  it  necessary  to  go 
to  the  expense  of  a  shilling  to  have  it  changed,  as 
he  had  three  times  deserted  from  men-of-war. 
"I've  been  in  prison  for  it,"  he  said  cheerfully, 
"and  I  got  the  cat  for  it,  and  if  you  like  you  can 
see  the  stars  and  stripes  on  my  back  yet."  He  took 
pleasure  in  representing  himself  as  the  most  des- 
perate of  ruffians.  Tin  Jack  asked  him  to  go  back 
to  Sydney  with  him.  "I  couldn't  leave  my  old 
woman  behind,"  said  he;  "and  besides,  you  see, 
I  got  into  trouble  there.  The  fact  is,  I've  got  an- 
other wife  there,  and  I  think  I'd  do  better  to  keep 
away."  He  then  began  to  tell  of  a  quarrel  he'd 
had  with  his  "old  woman"  when  he  took  her  to 
Auckland.  How  she  chased  him  along  the  street 
with  a  knife  in  one  hand  and  a  bag  of  sovereigns 
— his  entire  fortune — in  the  other;  he  begged  for 
the  bag  of  sovereigns,  trying  to  lay  hold  of  it  and 
at  the  same  time  avoid  the  knife  wielded  by  the 
"old  woman"  (a  young  native  girl,  no  doubt), 
who  alternately  lunged  at  him  with  the  knife  and 
cracked  him  over  the  head  with  the  bag  of  sov- 
ereigns. The  bursting  of  the  bag,  which  scattered 

[121] 


The    Cruise    of 

the  sovereigns  in  every  direction,  fortunately  ended 
the  quarrel.  He  mentioned  Maraki,  on  which 
Louis  called  to  mind  a  story  he  had  been  told 
many  times  over. 

"You  are  the  Tom  Day  who  had  a  native's 
head  cut  off,"  said  he;  "now  tell  me  the  story," 
which  Tom  presently  did.  A  native  had  shot  at 
him  without  provocation.  Some  one  said:  "Don't 
shoot;  it's  a  white  man."  "A  white  man  can  cut 
a  bullet  as  well  as  another,"  was  the  native's  reply 
as  he  fired.  Tom  put  his  hand  to  his  ear,  found 
that  the  shot  had  grazed  it  and  his  head,  and  the 
blood  was  running  from  the  wound.  Infuriated,  he 
rushed  into  the  house  for  his  rifle,  but  when  he 
got  back  the  man,  frightened  at  what  he  had 
done,  had  disappeared.  Tom  tried  to  persuade  the 
people  standing  about  to  go  after  the  man,  pinion 
him,  and  fetch  him  back  to  be  tried.  To  this  they 
objected;  they  could  not  get  him,  they  said,  as  he 
was  a  chief  and  had  people  to  protect  him.  One  of 
the  men  came  close  to  Tom.  "Better  we  kill  him," 
he  said  in  a  low  voice,  which  Tom  imitated.  "If 
you  do,"  was  Tom's  answer,  "fetch  me  the  head." 
Then  turning  to  us  with  an  apologetic  air  he  ex- 
plained that  "If  I  had  not  asked  to  see  the  head 
they'd  just  have  gone  and  killed  some  poor,  in- 
offensive fellow  and   I'd  never  have  known  the 

[122] 


the    ^^  Janet   NichoT* 

difference."  That  night  he  was  called  up  by  the 
men  who  had  the  head,  sure  enough.  "I  made 
*em  stick  it  up  on  the  wall,"  said  Tom,  "and  then 
I  got  a  light  and  looked  at  it.  I  jerked  it  down  and 
slung  it  as  far  as  I  could;  and,  by  golly,  the  old 
woman  was  in  the  way,  half  scared  to  death,  and 
it  took  her  on  the  side  of  the  head  and  knocked 
her  down,  and  I  had  to  pour  three  or  four  pails 
of  water  over  her,  for  she  had  fainted  dead  away." 

"And  after  that,"  he  continued  with  an  air 
of  virtuous  indignation,  "they  wanted  to  make 
trouble  about  it  in  Sydney — they  said  I  had  killed 
a  man.  What  did  they  mean  by  it,  I'd  like  to  know  ^. 
I  never  killed  no  man;  I  only  told  them  to  fetch 
his  head  so  I  could  be  sure  it  was  him." 

It  was  very  cold  last  night  and  my  bed  and  tent 
and  things  nearly  blew  away;  I  could  not  leave 
them  and  go  below  where  it  was  warmer,  but  had 
to  stay  and  hold  on  to  my  belongings  lest  I  should 
lose  them  entirely;  so  to-day  I  lashed  everything 
securely.  No  one  stayed  on  the  hatch  but  Lloyd 
and  me.  The  onions  alongside  Lloyd's  and  my 
beds  are  decaying,  and  smell  horrid,  as  do  a  great 
lot  of  sharks'  fins  drying  over  our  heads. 

it^th. — Waked  to  find  that  we  were  lymg  off 
Tapituea,  Tin  Jack's  station.  He  had  packed  the 
day   before  and  was  all  ready  to  land,  his   pig 

I  123] 


The    Cruise    of 

tied  up  and  lying  on  deck.  Tapituea  looks  a  large 
and  dreary  island,  the  whole  lee  side  submerged, 
making  it  very  dangerous.  We  could  not  venture 
inside  the  lagoon,  and  even  if  we  did  we  should 
have  to  anchor  far  away  from  the  landing-place. 
It  was  a  long  time  before  any  one  came  on  board, 
but  finally  a  Hawaiian  who  spoke  a  little  EngHsh 
came  out  in  his  canoe.  As  Tin  Jack  appeared  to 
be  rather  depressed  with  the  news  from  his  place, 
and  it  was  almost  impossible  to  land  his  stuff,  we 
left  Tapituea  and  ran  on  to  Nanouti,  where  he 
thought  he  might  prefer  to  stop.  He  has  a  sort 
of  partner  at  Nanouti,  known  as  "Billy  Jones's 
cousin."  The  partner  was  soon  on  board,  a  man 
with  a  big  head  and  one  hand  blown  off  by  dyna- 
mite. A  new  arrangement  was  made  with  Tin 
Jack,  who  said  he  preferred  staying  in  the  ship 
as  long  as  possible.  We  are  now  to  carry  him  on 
with  us,  and  land  him  at  Nanouti  as  we  return.  A 
pleasant-looking  young  native  came  on  board  with 
the  trader.  He  wore  a  rosary  round  his  neck,  which 
reminded  me  that  there  were  Catholic  missionaries 
on  the  island;  I  therefore  made  a  little  parcel  of 
four  Catholic  pictures  for  them,  and  Louis  put  in 
his  card;  Tin  Jack  added  a  bag  of  garlic. 

We  left  Nanouti  before  dinner,  had  a  beautiful 
golden  sunset,  and  are  now  steaming  on  to  some- 

[124] 


the    ^  ^  J  an  et    N  ichoT  ' 

where  else,  Apemama/  I  trust.  To-night  the  eve- 
ning star  is  extraordinarily  brilliant,  with  the 
blue  lire  of  a  diamond.  Last  night  Mr.  Hird  came 
to  the  hatch  and  called  out  in  a  most  excited  voice: 

*  It  seems  easier  to  explain  our  relation  with  Tem- 
binoka,  King  of  Apemama,  at  whose  island  I  hoped  we 
would  call,  by  giving  an  extract  from  a  former  diary 
written  on  the  trading  schooner  Equator: 

We  have  been  now  about  a  month  on  the  island  of 
the  redoubtable  Tembinoka,  an  absolute  monarch,  who 
holds  the  lives  of  his  subjects  (our  own  also)  in  the 
hollov/  of  his  hand.  He  says:  "I  kill  plenty  men,  him 
*praid  (afraid)  now.  I  no  kill  any  more."  That  he  does 
not  mean  to  kill  any  more  his  subjects  do  not  believe, 
nor  I,  quite,  myself.  He  once  shot  five  men,  one  after 
another,  as  they  sat  in  a  "moniap"  (native  house) 
where  they  had  been  brought  to  be  examined  by  him 
concerning  some  breach  of  his  laws.  There  were  seven 
men  in  all,  but  two  escaped  and  are  still  at  large  in 
another  island.  He  says  his  father  had  a  head  house 
where  he  hung  up  the  decapitated  heads  of  his  enemies 
— or  in  other  words,  people  who  differed  in  their  opin- 
ion from  him  or  whom  he  did  not  like  (a  friend  of  ours 
afterward  saw  this  moniap  with  its  grisly  decoration 
of  skulls).  No  missionaries  and  no  white  people  are 
allowed  on  Tembinoka's  islands  (he  rules  over  three) 
with  the  exception  of  Johnny,  an  inoffensive,  dying 
*'  poor  white,"  who  lives  some  four  miles  from  the  vil- 
lage. We  did  not  know  in  the  least  whether  we  should 
be  allowed  to  remain,  and  waited  with  some  anxiety 
for  the  appearance  of  his  Majesty.  In  the  meantime 
the  whole  ship  was  in  a  commotion,  scouring  the  decks 

[125] 


The    Cruise    of 

"Osbourne,wearejust  passingthe  equator!"  Lloyd 
jumped  out  of  a  sound  sleep  and  ran  aft,  crying: 
"Where  is  she?  I  don't  see  her!"  It  was  a  sorry 
joke;  we  were  crossing  the  line,  and  it  was  not 

and  getting  everything  into  apple-pie  order;  I  did  not 
know  that  the  Equator  could  be  brought  to  such  a 
pitch  of  cleanliness.  Finally  the  King's  steps  arrived, 
were  made  fast  to  the  sides,  and  the  royal  boat  was  seen 
to  put  out.  We  thought  it  more  dignified  to  remain 
in  the  cabin  and  show  none  of  the  curiosity  we  felt 
concerning  this  very  remarkable  man.  We  had  been 
told  that  he  was  grossly  stout,  and  that  was  all  the 
description  we  had  been  able  to  get  from  the  stupid 
people  we  had  talked  with;  consequently,  we  were  not 
prepared  to  meet  the  most  magnificently  royal  person- 
age that  it  has  yet  been  our  lot  to  behold,  a  gentleman 
by  nature  and  a  king  every  inch  of  him.  He  gave  us 
a  long  and  careful  study;  afterward  he  said  it  was  first 
the  eyes  and  then  the  mouth  he  judged  by.  We  passed 
muster,  Louis's  eyes  being  specially  commended,  and 
were  told  to  come  ashore  and  remain  as  long  as  we  liked 
as  his  guests.  The  next  day  we  chose  a  spot  where  we 
thought  it  would  be  pleasant  to  live,  and  Tembinoka 
ordered  his  men  to  carry  houses  and  set  them  up  there 
for  us.  The  captain  and  Lloyd  stayed  at  the  King's 
palace  all  night;  the  next  morning  they  were  alarmed 
to  see  Tembinoka  shooting  into  the  village  with  a 
rifle.  He  explained  that  his  men  were  lazy  and  should 
be  at  work,  so  he  was  reminding  them  that  accidents 
were  possible.  The  whole  trembling  village  set  to  work 
like  bees,  and  by  the  time  I  came  over,  one  sleeping 
house  was  up,  a  little  thatched  bird-cage  with  flaps 

[126] 


the    ^^  Janet    NichoT* 

Captain  Raid's  schooner,  on  which  we  had  passed 
so  many  deHghtful  months. 

i6th. — Early  this  morning  we  were  lying  out- 
side the  lagoon  of  Apemama,  just  alongside  the 

on  all  sides  to  raise  or  lower  as  one  likes,  and  an  open- 
sided  cook  house  for  Ah  Foo  (a  Chinese  servant  we 
brought  from  the  Marquesas).  The  King  sat  on  a  mat 
and  directed  proceedings.  He  motioned  me  to  sit  be- 
side him  and  asked  for  a  cigarette,  of  which  he  is  very 
fond.  Whenever  a  native  has  to  pass  the  King,  or  come 
near  him  for  any  purpose,  he  must  crouch  and  crawl; 
even  his  Majesty's  own  sister  did  so  when  she  came 
to  join  our  party. 

We  have  had  a  little  ripple  of  excitement  on  the 
usually  smooth  current  of  our  existence.  To  go  back 
to  the  beginning:  Soon  after  we  were  settled  in  "Equator 
town,"  as  we  call  our  hamlet,  the  King  proposed  send- 
ing the  royal  cook  to  learn  from  Ah  Foo.  The  man 
was  an  insolent,  handsome  fellow,  with  no  intention 
of  either  learning  or  working,  and  either  lay  on  the 
floor  of  the  kitchen  or  squatted  smoking,  while  Ah  Foo, 
who  was  in  mortal  terror  of  Tembinoka,  prepared  the 
dishes  which  the  royal  cook,  without  doubt,  passed  off 
as  his  own  productions.  This  went  on  for  some  time, 
and  as  the  King's  meal  hours  are  the  same  as  our  own, 
interfered  a  good  deal  with  Ah  Foo's  work  and  con- 
sequently our  comfort.  The  climax  was  reached  when 
the  cook,  too  lazy  to  walk  down  to  the  well  for  a  can 
of  water  for  himself,  came  softly  behind  me  as  I  was 
watering  my  plants  and  impudently  snatched  a  dipper- 
ful  from  my  pail.  We  then  took  the  first  opportunity 

[127] 


The    Cruise    of 

little  island  at  the  entrance.  There  was  no  sign  of 
life,  so,  after  waiting  awhile,  a  boat  with  Mr. 
Henderson,  Tin  Jack,  and  Louis  went  to  find  out 
the  reason.  They  came  back  with  the  news  that 

to  let  the  King  know  how  things  were  going,  advising 
him  to  send  a  man  who  was  willing  to  learn.  Since  then 
his  Majesty's  steward,  a  capable,  serious  man,  has  ac- 
companied the  cook.  Shortly  after  our  complaint  we 
heard  several  rifle-shots  from  the  palace,  and  soon 
after  met  the  cook,  who  passed  us  hurriedly,  without 
the  usual  salutations,  his  countenance  bearing  the  marks 
of  furious  anger  and  fear.  It  seems  that  he  had  been  the 
King's  target,  running  and  crouching  behind  piles  of 
stones,  the  bullets  flying  after  him.  Tembinoka  came 
over  a  few  days  later  and  apologised  for  having  pos- 
sibly alarmed  or  annoyed  us.  He  said  he  had  no  inten- 
tion of  killing  the  man,  which  he  might  have  done 
easily,  being  a  dead  shot,  but  only  wished  to  frighten 
him.  He  said  he  had  killed  enough  people  to  show  the 
rest  what  he  could  do,  but  thought  it  a  good  plan  to 
remind  them  occasionally  that  he  had  a  rifle  and  the 
power  to  use  it  as  he  pleased.  "More  better  him  'praid" 
(afraid),  were  his  words.  As  may  be  imagined,  the  cook 
bears  us  no  good  will,  knowing  that  our  complaints 
had  turned  that  fearful  rifle  against  him.  However,  he 
dropped  his  insolent  airs  and  became  almost  obsequious. 


Since  we  have  been  here,  the  schooner  Tiernan  came 
in  for  copra.  While  she  was  lying  in  the  lagoon,  the  King 
spent  most  of  his  time  aboard  and  some  seven  hundred 
dollars  of  his  money  (he  spent  nearly  one  thousand  on 

[128] 


the    ^^ Janet   NichoV 

the  King  was  away  visiting  his  island  of  Kuria,  so 
off  we  started  to  hunt  for  him.  Arrived  at  Kuria, 
a  boat  came  out  to  tell  us  that  the  King  was  ill 
from  the  sequelae  of  measles;    also  it  brought  an 

the  Equator);  then  he  got  very  drunk,  going  on  steadily 
a  little  worse  or  a  little  better,  according  to  his  head- 
aches. Day  before  yesterday,  he  gave  a  feast  and  dance 
to  which  he  did  not  invite  us.  At  noon  he  came  to  say 
he  would  lunch  with  us.  His  eyes  were  wandering  and 
his  voice  excited  and  almost  boisterous.  It  was  plain 
that  royalty  was  not  far  from  being  vulgarly  drunk. 
We  could  see  that  he  had  been  worried  by  our  visits 
to  the  palace  having  ceased  and  wished  to  have  an 
understanding  that  there  was  no  ill  feeling  on  either 
side.  He  demanded  beer,  saying  that  he  had  been  drink- 
ing gin  and  port  wine,  and  dozed  off  in  his  chair,  start- 
ing up  in  a  few  moments  much  mortified.  I  noticed 
that  even  in  this  stage  of  semi-intoxication,  he  used 
his  knife  and  fork  in  our  fashion,  and  not  as  he  had 
learned  from  the  "South  Sea  merchants."  It  is  an  un- 
ending pleasure  to  hear  the  King  say:  "I  want  to  go 
home."  There  is  an  element  of  appeal  in  it,  reminding 
one  of  a  child  who  can  bear  the  tedium  no  longer.  It 
is  always  directed  to  Louis  or,  he  being  absent,  to  me 
as  his  representative.  He  wanted  to  go  home  very  soon 
after  that  luncheon.  In  the  evening  we  could  hear  the 
dancers  in  the  big  "speak  house,"  clapping,  stamping, 
and  singing.  The  sounds  were  so  savage,  so  like  an  im- 
mense pack  of  dogs  fighting  in  a  mass,  that  we  did  not 
realise  what  it  was,  but  thought  that  some  form  of 
riot  was  going  on.  An  absolute  tyrant  like  Tembinoka 
walks  amid   dangers  of  which  he  is  fully  conscious. 

[129] 


The    Cruise    of 

insulting  letter  to  Mr.  Henderson,  signed  by  the 
King  but  written  in  a  white  man's  hand;  Mr. 
Henderson,  very  angry,  showed  the  letter  to 
Louis,  who  proposed  that  he  should  be  present 

Tembinoka  dead  drunk  was  not  an  idea  to  contemplate 
with  serenity,  and  the  sound  of  a  single  shot  did  not 
tend  to  reassure  us,  so  we  laid  our  pistols  where  they 
would  be  handy.  Louis's  idea  is  that  no  one  would  at- 
tack the  King  unless  he  were  absolutely  certain  of  kill- 
ing him  instantly,  in  which  case  we  had  better  wait 
here  until  the  enemy  came  for  us.  I  think  on  the  con- 
trary, that  the  commission  of  so  enormous  a  crime 
would  make  a  pause.  The  terrors  of  the  deed  would 
fill  the  childish  minds  of  the  natives  to  the  exclusion  of 
anything  else  and  there  would  be  a  short  time  of  con- 
fusion in  which  nothing  would  take  place  but  shoutings 
and  aimless  running  about;  then  would  be  our  time  to 
rush  in  and  take  possession  of  a  stout  wooden  house 
inside  the  palace  walls,  and  the  King's  arms,  and  really 
the  King's  throne.  There  would  always  be  the  chance, 
a  very  slight  one,  to  be  sure,  that  we  might  still  be  in 
time  to  save  the  King's  life.  I  do  not  quite  understand 
what  Louis's  tactics  would  be,  but  aside  from  any  other 
consideration,  there  must  be  but  one  commander  and 
he  should  be  absolute  even  though  the  others  do  not 
agree  with  him. 

After  the  shot  (which  was  only  aimed  at  a  dog, 
though  that  we  could  not  know)  we  listened  and  found 
that  there  was  no  interruption  to  the  singing  and 
dancing,  which  reassured  us.  In  the  night,  Louis, 
being  restless  and  not  sleepy,  took  his  flageolet  and 
wandered  off  into  the  woods,  playing  as  he  walked, 

[130] 


the    ^^ Janet    NichoV 

■I        ■■■—■■.  ■  ■ .  ,,■■■■—-■■ ,.     ,     --  ■       ■    .,  I     1 1»   a 

at  the  interview  with  the  King.  To  this  Mr.  Hen- 
derson consented.  Of  course  we  all  went  on  shore; 
Louis  and  Lloyd  and  I  took  our  presents  with  us; 
from  Louis  a  chibouk,  from  Lloyd   a  filled  car- 

until  I  lost  hearing  of  him.  About  midnight,  or  a  little 
later,  I  was  out  a  short  distance  from  the  house  watch- 
ing with  some  anxiety  for  his  return.  Pretty  soon  I  saw 
him  coming  along  the  main  path  toward  our  house. 
I  also  saw  a  dark  figure  dogging  his  steps.  I  called  to 
him,  telling  him  what  I  had  seen.  He  was  convinced 
that  it  was  an  hallucination  of  mine  and  I  was  quite 
ready  to  believe  him,  but  as  we  talked  I  caught  sight 
of  the  man  running  toward  the  palace.  I  pointed  him 
out  to  Louis,  who  dashed  off  in  pursuit.  When  the  man 
saw  he  was  outdistanced,  for  Louis  is  a  fine  sprinter, 
he  turned  the  face  of  the  cook,  smiling  suavely.  I  heard 
**sea  language"  in  Louis's  biggest  voice,  and  saw  him 
leaping  strangely  in  the  moonlight,  like  a  grasshopper. 
He  came  back  in  fits  of  laughter,  saying  he  had  kicked 
the  cook,  who  fled  in  terror. 

Ever  since  the  cook  found  we  had  turned  against 
him  I  have  had  an  uneasy  feeling  that  some  one  was 
about  our  sleeping  house  in  the  night,  and  several 
times  I  was  certain  a  hand  was  cautiously  feeling  about 
inside  our  door  flap.  It  seemed  a  foolish  notion,  so  I 
had  said  nothing  about  it  until  this  night,  then  Louis 
said  he,  too,  had  distinctly  heard  the  same  thing.  We 
cannot  complain  to  the  King  for  he  would  kill  the  man 
instantly,  and  we  do  not  go  so  far  as  to  desire  his  death. 
We  have  not  seen  or  heard  from  him  since.  Ah  Foo 
thinks  he  has  gone  away  in  fear  of  his  life.  I  have  it  in 
my  heart  to  be  sorry  for  the  fellow,  for  his  terror  must 

[131I 


The    Cruise    of 

tridge-belt  with  a  sheathed  dagger,  mine  being  the 
King's  own  flag  after  my  design.  I  thought  it  very 
generous  of  Mr.  Henderson  that  he  advised  me 
to  keep  my  flag  back  in  case  the  King  came  on 

be  extreme,  and  we  who  have  brought  this  upon  him 
belong  to  the  feared  and  hated  white  race. 

We  are  getting  to  be  rather  anxious  concerning  the 
Equator.  She  was  to  be  gone  two  weeks,  but  it  is  now 
over  a  month  since  she  left  us.  The  Tiernan  met  her  at 
Butaritari,  she  leaving  the  day  before  Captain  Saxe 
of  the  Tiernan.  Captain  Reid  intended  to  go  to  Maraki 
to  take  a  man  known  as  "the  poisoner"  over  to  another 
island,  Taravao,  I  think.  Now  Taravao  is  so  near  to 
Maraki  that  Peter  Grant  had  been  over  there  in  a 
small  boat.  There  may  have  been  trouble  in  Maraki — 
certainly  it  was  imminent — which  has  kept  the  cap- 
tain, but  still  it  is  a  long  time.  He  promised,  if  the 
schooner  were  lost  and  he  was  saved,  that  he  would 
make  his  way  here  somehow.  In  these  dangerous  and 
uncertain  waters  one  is  easily  made  uneasy.  Fortu- 
nately for  us,  the  Tiertian  was  able  to  let  us  have  some 
stores.  Our  salt  beef  was  finished,  and  we  were  abso- 
lutely sickened  of  wild  chickens  shot  by  Ah  Foo  with 
the  King's  gun. 

I  had  a  little  strip  of  coral  dug  out,  got  rotted  leaves 
from  under  a  tree,  put  them  into  the  hole,  and  into 
this  I  emptied  the  half-decayed  filth  that  was  left  in 
the  onion  basket.  I  should  think  I  have  nearly  two 
dozen  onions  now  growing  finely.  I  have  invented  a 
salad  for  Louis  of  which  he  is  extremely  fond.  In  all 
these  islands  there  is  one  cocoanut  that  has  a  sweet 

[  132] 


the    ^  ^  J  an  et    N  ichoV  '' 

board,  so  we  might  get  a  better  effect  by  break- 
ing his  colours  man-of-war  fashion — this  after  the 
insulting  letter  and  before  what  promised  to  be  a 
very  unpleasant  interview. 

husk,  used  for  cleaning  the  teeth.  In  Butaritari  the 
baron  often  caused  me  great  embarrassment  by  chew- 
ing a  brush  for  me.  This  sweet  nut  when  green  has  a 
little  crisp  portion  at  the  stem  end  which  I  cut  up  and 
made  into  salad  with  oil  and  vinegar,  or  rather  oil  and 
lime-juice,  as  we  have  no  vinegar.  We  have  put  out  a 
bottle  of  sour  toddy  hoping  to  get  vinegar  from  that. 


My  diary  ends  here,  abruptly;  I  had  too  much  on 
my  hands  to  find  any  further  time  for  writing  diaries, 
for  Ah  Foo  fell  ill,  and  I  must  be  cook,  purveyor,  house- 
maid, and  what  not,  as  well  as  nurse.  Ah  Foo  announced 
his  illness  (something  alarmingly  like  diphtheria)  in 
these  words,  "Me  sick:  no  can  work;  no  can  cook — 
no  good  any  more — more  better  you  kill  me,  now," 
offering  Louis,  as  he  spoke,  a  large,  keenly  sharpened 
carving  knife  and  his  bared  throat  ready  for  the  sac- 
rifice. He  was  severely  ill  for  some  days,  needing  almost 
constant  attention.  His  undisguised  surprise  that  I 
would  stoop  to  nurse  a  Chinaman  was  pathetic,  and 
his  gratitude  afterward  was  sometimes  shown  in  un- 
expected and  embarrassing  ways,  as,  for  instance,  when 
he  insisted  on  shooting  several  men  who  waked  me 
from  an  afternoon  nap  by  singing  Christmas  songs  be- 
neath my  window;  or  when  he  proposed  to  burglariously 
enter  a  trader's  house  to  steal  something  for  me  that 
could  not  be  procured  otherwise. 

[133] 


The    Cruise    of 

Our  black  fellows  pulled  us  across  in  splendid 
style,  passing  the  King's  returning  messenger,  who 
made  a  fine  though  unsuccessful  spurt  to  catch 
up  with  us.  As  we  rowed  along  the  beach  surprised 
cries  of  *Tani !  Pani!"  (Fanny!  Fanny!)  ran 
through  the  moniaps  (native  houses)  where  the 
King's  wives  were  sitting.  The  King,  looking  older 

It  seemed  a  rash  thing  to  let  the  Tiernan  sail  away 
without  us  as  we  had  finished,  not  only  our  own  sup- 
plies, but  the  King's  also.  True,  Mr.  Lauterbach,  the 
mate  of  the  Tiernan,  let  us  have  several  kegs  of  salt 
beef,  and  Reuben  (which  was  the  nearest  we  could 
come  to  pronouncing  his  name),  the  King's  majordomo, 
had  fetched  three  big  hawkbill  turtles  from  another 
island.  The  turtles  were  for  the  King's  own  larder,  but 
he  sent  us  a  generous  portion  of  each;  we,  of  course, 
divided  accordingly  when  we  opened  our  kegs  of  beef. 
But  these  provisions  would  soon  be  finished,  and  if,  as 
we  each  feared  but  dared  not  say,  the  Equator  were  lost, 
"cocoanut  steaks"  might  become  our  sole  diet.  Indeed, 
I  had  packed  the  most  of  our  belongings  in  some  large 
camphor-wood  chests  ready  to  go  on  board,  and  we 
had  even  chosen  our  bunks  when  a  picture  of  Captain 
Reid's  face  if  he  arrived  to  find  us  gone  rose  before 
my  mind's  eye.  "Louis,"  I  suddenly  whispered,  "I 
don't  want  to  go."  Without  a  question  Louis  immedi- 
ately cancelled  our  passage  and  the  Tiernan  sailed 
away  without  us.  Not  many  days  afterward  she  cap- 
sized and  sank  in  a  very  odd  way.  A  heavy  gale  that 
had  piled  the  sea  up  into  enormous  waves  was  followed 
by  a  dead  calm.  The  Tiernan,  lying  quite  helpless,  was 

[134] 


the    ^' Janet    NichoV'' 

and  thinner,  received  us  in  the  native  fashion 
with  no  apparent  astonishment.  The  presents  were 
given,  and  then  Lloyd  and  I  left  the  party  to  get 
their  explanations  over,  the  King  smoking  his  chi- 
bouk the  while  with  great  enjoyment,  while  the 
cartridge-belt  hung  over  his  shoulder. 

We  soon  found  the  moniap  of  the  harem  and 

rolled  over,  further  and  further,  until  she  "turned 
turtle"  and  sank.  Years  after  the  mate,  Mr.  Lauter- 
bach,  whom  I  had  supposed  to  be  drowned,  came  to 
see  me  in  San  Francisco.  He,  he  told  me,  with  some 
natives,  managed  to  turn  over  a  boat  that  floated  out 
upside  down  from  the  schooner.  With  only  the  carcass 
of  the  ship's  pet  pig  which  they  had  picked  up  and  what 
rain  fell  from  the  sky  for  sustenance,  the  boat  went 
drifting  off.  I  am  not  sure  that  they  had  an  oar,  but 
Mr.  Lauterbach  caught  a  native  sleeping-mat  that  was 
floating  on  the  water;  the  castaways  took  turns  in  hold- 
ing up  this  mat,  which  thus  served  as  a  sail.  They  could 
not  hope  for  a  rescue  in  these  unfrequented  waters,  so 
Mr.  Lauterbach  tried  to  work  toward  an  inhabited 
island  with  only  the  position  of  sun  and  stars  for  gui- 
dance. When  he  did  make  land,afteran  incredible  length 
of  time  to  have  lived  without  food  or  water,  there  were, 
as  I  remember,  only  himself,  one  man  and  a  demented 
woman  left  living  in  the  boat.  None  of  our  party,  ex- 
cept, perhaps.  Ah  Foo,  would  have  been  able  to  endure 
such  hardships — if,  indeed,  we  had  not  gone  straight 
down  with  the  schooner — the  most  likely  thing  to  hap- 
pen. So  it  was  as  well  that  I  asked  to  go  back  to  our 
meagre  fare  to  await  the  Equator. 

[135] 


The    Cruise    of 

sat  down  beside  the  King's  mother.  The  women 
received  us  with  fervent  expressions  of  welcome 
and  pleasure.  We  passed  through  several  houses 
on  our  way,  and  In  every  one  our  attention  was 
called  to  a  "devil  box"  similar  to  one  we  bought 
from  the  medicine-man  at  Apemama,  then  the 
only  one  in  the  three  islands.  In  the  centre  of  the 
big  moniap  was  a  circular  piece  of  "devil  work" 
with  a  ring  of  sacred  white  shells  about  it.  Tin 
Jack  followed  after  us,  and  we  got  him  to  act  as 
Interpreter.  It  seems  they  have  been  suffering  here 
severely  with  measles,  though  there  were  only 
four  deaths,  two  men  and  two  women.  Children 
escaped  with  slight  attacks,  but  grown  people 
were  very  111,  the  King  himself  being  at  one  time 
very  near  death.  The  first  question  put  to  us  by 
the  women  was  concerning  Louis's  health;  then 
what  had  we  done  with  our  devil  box  ?  I  fear  that 
our  accidental  reconversion  of  Butaritarl  to  Chris- 
tianity^ has  been  offset  by  our  having  inadver- 
tently strengthened  these  Apemamans  In  their 
heathen  superstitions.  A  sick  foreigner  comes,  is 

^  Butaritarl  had  lapsed  into  heathenism  when  we  ar- 
rived there,  but,  by  showing  a  magic  lantern  which 
included  some  Bible  pictures  among  the  slides,  we  quite 
unconsciously  reconverted  the  whole  Island,  King  and 
all. 

[136] 


the    ^' Janet    Nichol'* 

cured  by  means  of  a  devil  box  manipulated  by  a 
*' dog-star"  (doctor),  and  naturally  he  desires  to 
possess  an  article  so  valuable,  going  so  high  in  his 
offers  for  it  as  the  worth  of  a  ton  of  copra.  The 
foreigner  is  a  very  clever  and  learned  man.  "He 
savee  too  much,"  they  say.  And  when  measles 
falls  upon  the  land  the  first  thought  is  the  devil 
box,  and  a  praying  place  for  devil  worship  is 
erected  in  the  very  centre  of  their  moniap.  I  wish 
I  could  find  out  if  they  really  worship  the  spirit  of 
evil  or  whether,  having  been  enlightened  by  the 
missionaries,  they  have  not  given  their  god  that 
name.  If  the  latter,  how  much  better  to  have  ac- 
cepted their  god  and  shown  them  where  they  had 
mistaken  his  attributes?  And  that  reminds  me 
that  when  I  heard  the  people  with  the  scaly  dis- 
ease on  the  other  islands  erroneously  called  lepers 
I  wondered  if  that  could  have  been  the  leprosy  of 
the  Bible  that  was  miraculously  cured.  The  dark- 
est people  turn  quite  white  when  covered  with 
the  scales. 

But  to  return  to  Tembinoka,  the  King.  Louis, 
fortunately,  was  able  to  clear  up  the  misunder- 
standing caused,  no  doubt,  by  a  white  man,  though 
the  King  loyally  refused  to  give  the  name.  Louis 
proposed  that  the  King  should  apologise  for  the 
insulting  letter,  at  which  his  Majesty  looked  very 

[137] 


The    Cruise    of 

black,  indeed;  but  when  Louis  told  him  that  under 
the  same  circumstances  an  English  gentleman 
would  certainly  offer  an  apology,  his  countenance 
cleared,  the  apology  was  handsomely  made  and 
accepted,  and  so,  all  being  well,  the  King  proposed 
to  go  on  board.  We  wished  some  of  our  party  to  be 
on  the  ship  to  break  out  the  flag  at  the  right  mo- 
ment, so  hunted  up  our  black  boys  who  were  fill- 
ing bags  with  grass  for  the  ship's  sheep;  Mr.  Hird 
went  off  with  them,  and  the  rest  of  us  begged  per- 
mission to  accompany  the  King,  who  invited  us  to 
ride  out  with  him  to  his  boat  in  the  royal  litter. 
I  was  told  to  get  in  first,  then  Lloyd,  then  Louis 
and  Mr.  Henderson  together,  and  then  his  Majes- 
ty. The  black  boys  passed  us  on  the  way  with 
Mr.  Hird,  and  afraid  that  the  flag  might  be  forgot- 
ten by  some  mischance,  Mr.  Henderson  shouted: 
*'Hird,  elevate  the  royal  bunting."  That  was  be- 
cause the  King  would  have  understood  had  he 
said:  *' Break  the  flag."  The  black  boys  put  their 
elegant  backs  into  it  and  were  in  time  to  send  up 
the  flag  in  fine  style.  Every  one  cried  out  in  ad- 
miration; it  could  not  have  had  a  better  setting 
than  the  "long,  low,  rakish  black"  steamer.  The 
King,  who  steered  his  own  boat,  and  was  greatly 
pleased  to  learn  that  the  Hawaiian  King  was  a 
good  sailor  as  well  as  himself,  had  been  smiling 

[138] 


the    ^^ Janet    NichoV' 

on  Louis,  and  Louis  on  him,  in  the  most  melting 
way.  He  now  directed  his  attention  to  the  flag, 
and  there  was  no  doubt  but  the  sight  gave  him 
the  keenest  gratification.  We  came  down  to  the 
cabin,  where  "champagne  was  opened,"  and  then 
Mr.  Henderson  left  Louis  and  me  alone  with  the 
King. 

The  moment  that  Mr.  Henderson  was  gone  the 
apathy  that  in  these  islands  *'doth  hedge  in  a 
king"  broke  down.  The  dear  old  man  clasped 
Louis  in  one  arm  and  me  in  the  other  and  kissed 
us  and  wept  over  us  for  joy.  He  told  us  how,  day 
after  day,  he  looked  through  his  glass  out  over 
the  sea  pretending  to  himself  that  he  could  see  us 
coming  back.  Sometimes,  he  said,  he  deluded  him- 
self so  far  that  he  beheld  our  very  faces.  This  day 
he  had  been  looking  out  as  usual  and  was  not  sur- 
prised when  our  boat  came  near;  he  had  seen  it  all 
Uke  that  before  in  his  day-dreams.  Suddenl}^  he 
recognised  a  particular  dress  I  wore  that  he  had 
given  me.  "Then  I  felt  like  this,"  he  said,  mak- 
ing a  gasping  sound  of  surprise  and  emotion — • 
**0-o-oh!" — and  pressing  his  hand  on  his  breast 
with  a  dramatic  gesture.  Often,  he  said,  he  made 
an  errand  over  to  his  taro  pits  that  he  might  look 
upon  the  place  where  our  houses  had  stood.  "I 
too  much  sorry,"  he  said;  "I  want  see  you." 

[  139] 


The    Cruise    of 

The  time  came  to  say  good-bye  until  the  Janet 
came  back  on  her  return  voyage;  the  flag  was 
hauled  down  and  presented  to  the  King,  and  he 
went  oflf"  in  his  boat  with  a  very  depressed  coun- 
tenance. 

Reuben  is  now  called  "the  governor."  As  we 
were  sitting  at  dinner  some  one  said:  "The  an- 
chor's coming  up.  There's  a  man  at  the  port 
wants  to  speak  to  you,  Mr.  Stevenson."  We  all 
looked  up,  and  there,  grinning  like  an  ape,  was 
"Uncle  Parker  !"  (Uncle  Parker  was  a  servant  the 
King  had  lent  us  when  we  visited  him  before.)  He 
thrust  as  much  of  himself  through  the  port-hole 
as  was  possible,  and  we  all  climbed  up  and  shook 
hands  with  him.  He  told  us  that  there  had  been 
further  trouble  with  the  impudent  cook,  and  in 
consequence  the  King  had  shot  him.  Louis  gave 
Uncle  Parker  a  magnificent  gift  of  six  sticks  of 
tobacco.  The  King  said  he  had  sent  us  ten  mats 
by  Captain  Reid.  On  this  island  is  a  house  of  re- 
fuge, an  octagon  to  which  criminals  may  run.  I 
am  told  that  the  people  have  a  system  of  palmis- 
try. 

lyth. — Maraki.  We  stopped  at  the  wrong  settle- 
ment, and,  as  men  were  seen  on  the  beach,  Mr. 
Henderson  sent  a  boat  for  them  in  case  they 
wished  to  go  on  with  us  to  the  other  settlement. 

[  140] 


the    ^^ Janet    Nichol'' 

One  was  a  stranger,  the  other  an  old  friend  known 
as  the  "passenger."  ^  We  heard  his  meagre  news 
and  he  heard  ours,  and  drank  stout  with  Louis 
and  Lloyd.  It  was  pleasant  to  meet  him  again. 
He  expects  to  be  in  Samoa  in  a  twelvemonth. 
Left  the  silk  dress,  "blackee  coat,"  and  other 
presents  with  him  to  forward  to  Maka  and 
the  Nan  Toks,  and  I  gave  a  gold  ring  to  the  Ha- 

^  We  were  forced  to  kidnap  "the  passenger,"  Paul 
Hoeflich,  a  very  pleasant,  agreeable  German,  when  we 
were  on  the  Equator.  Mr.  Hoeflich  had  taken  passage 
on  the  schooner  from  Butaritari  to  another  island, 
only  a  few  miles  distant,  where  he  meant  to  start  busi- 
ness as  an  independent  trader.  All  his  worldly  goods, 
including  the  stuff  for  stocking  his  store,  were  on  board 
the  Equator.  It  was  the  beginning  of  the  bad  season, 
and  we  had  continual  contrary  winds  with  heavy  seas. 
In  vain  we  cruised  round  and  round  his  island — we 
could  not  make  a  landing.  We  were  losing  much  time, 
so  my  husband  informed  Mr.  Hoeflich  that  he  must 
join  us  in  a  trip  to  Samoa,  our  next  destination.  It  so 
fell  out  that  Mr.  Hoeflich,  who  had  helped  greatly  to 
lighten  the  tedium  of  a  long  voyage  in  bad  weather 
(we  arrived  at  Apia  in  a  somewhat  wrecked  condition, 
with  one  foretopmast  gone),  took  an  immense  liking  to 
Samoa  and  remained  there  instead  of  returning  to  the 
Gilberts.  He  has  prospered  exceedingly  and  blesses  the 
day  he  was  kidnapped.  At  this  time,  when  we  met  him 
he  had  come  back  to  the  line  islands  for  a  final  arrange- 
ment of  his  affairs  preliminary  to  settling  permanently 
in  Samoa. 

[141I 


The    C?^uise    of 

waiian  missionary  for  his  wife.  This  missionary 
expects  to  return  to  Honolulu  on  the  Morning 
Star  in  company  with  Maka,  so  our  presents  will 
fall  in  at  the  right  moment.  Louis  also  sent  one  of 
his  photographs  to  a  young  Hawaiian  I  met  under 
peculiar  circumstances  when  we  were  here  before.^ 


^  As  we  neared  the  end  of  our  walk  we  came  into 
quite  a  large  village.  The  aspect  of  the  people  was  more 
savage  and  ugly  than  we  had  heretofore  seen,  the  faces 
brutal  and  unintelligent.  Half-grown  children,  and,  in- 
deed, some  more  than  half-grown,  were  entirely  naked. 
The  young  boys  were  like  little  old  men,  their  faces 
hard  and  their  eyes  haggard  and  anxious.  I  saw  one 
with  St.  Virus's  dance,  several  with  hydrocephalus,  and 
a  number  who  had  affections  of  the  eyes.  Many  of  the 
little  girls  had  their  heads  entirely  shaved,  with  the 
exception  of  a  small  tassel  at  the  nape  of  the  neck 
which  gave  a  very  curious  effect.  The  older  ones  wore 
their  hair  bushed  out  to  a  great  size.  Almost  all  wore 
necklaces  of  braided  hair  with  an  oval  bit  of  red  or 
white  shell  hanging  to  it  like  a  locket.  One  haughty, 
impudent,  fat  young  fellow,  evidently  a  beau,  swaggered 
about  with  a  white  handkerchief,  twisted  most  ingenu- 
ously into  a  crown,  on  his  head.  Almost  all  of  the  women 
wore  a  girdle  of  flat,  round  beads  (made  of  cocoanut 
shells)  above  the  ridi. 

As  we  walked  along  the  village  street  the  whole 
population  joined  us.  We  stopped  at  the  sight  of  a 
church  neatly  made  of  wattled  cocoanut  leaves  bear- 
ing at  the  peak  of  its  front  gable  a  belfry  of  braided 
leaves.  There  was  actually  a  bell  in  this  belfry  which 

[142] 


the    ^  ^  J  an  et    N  ichol  ' ' 

We  stayed  a  very  short  time,  and  then,  with  sev- 
eral sails  set,  took  our  way  toward  Jaluit.  A 
sheep  and  a  pig  struck  attitudes  and  dared  each 
other  to  fight — a  comical  sight.  Both  were  delighted 
when  the  strained  situation  was  broken  by  a  chance 
passerby.  The  black  boys  are  playing  cards  in  the 


looked  as  though  a  breath  would  disperse  it.  The  floor 
of  the  church  is  covered  with  mats,  which  are  renewed 
each  new  year.  A  very  odd  thing  was  an  arrangement 
of  strings  which,  inside  of  the  building,  crossed  each 
other  with  a  sort  of  pattern  just  above  a  tall  man's 
height.  All  along  these  strings,  at  regular  intervals, 
strips  of  bright-hued  calico  were  tied — I  thought  in  an 
attempt  at  ornamentation,  but  was  told  it  was  for  a 
game  of  the  children.  I  should  like  to  see  the  game 
played.  Indeed,  I  do  not  believe  it  to  be  a  game,  (We 
found  afterward  that  these  decorations  were  for  the 
purpose  of  propitiating  "chinch,"  a  terrible  evil  spirit 
— the  devil,  in  fact.)  We  asked  for  the  missionary;  a 
fine-looking  young  Hawaiian  came  up  to  us,  saluting 
us  with  the  pleasant  ''^ Aloha!"  His  house  was  our  ap- 
pointed place  of  meeting  with  the  captain.  The  mis- 
sionary, we  were  told,  was  in  council  with  the  "old 
men." 

This  island  is  a  republic  governed  by  the  "old  men." 
To  arrive  at  the  distinction  of  being  an  "old  man," 
one  must  be  either  very  rich  or  have  performed  some 
prodigy  of  valour  in  war  time.  Accompanied  by  the 
Hawaiian,  we  wandered  along  to  the  Council  House. 
The  missionary  looked  extremely  like  a  mixture  of  na- 
tive and  Chinese — a  large,  imposing  man  with  a  long, 

[143] 


The    Cruise    of 

forecastle.  Mr.  Hird  and  Foo-foo  (black  boy)  sang 
in  the  evening. 

i^th. — Very  hot  weather.  Our  sails  are  still  up, 
and  one  of  the  boats  hanging  over  the  side  has 
its  sail  also  set.  It  looks  very  odd. 

thin,  white  moustache  and  thick,  grey  hair.  As  we  sat 
outside  in  the  circle  surrounding  the  Council  House, 
conversing  with  the  Hawaiian,  it  occurred  to  me  that 
I  might  buy  one  of  the  cocoanut  beaded  girdles  worn 
by  most  of  the  women.  The  Hawaiian  turned  to  one 
of  them  and  asked  what  she  would  take  for  her  girdle; 
a  dollar  was  the  answer;  at  that  I  handed  a  half  dollar 
and  two  quarters  to  the  young  man  who,  saying  that 
it  was  too  much,  gave  me  back  half  the  money.  "They 
sell  them  for  two  fish-hooks,"  he  said,  "and  this  is 
simply  extortion;  however,  as  she  has  seen  the  money 
she  will  do  her  best  to  get  it,  so  you  might  as  well  give 
her  the  half  dollar."  The  exchange  was  made,  and  after 
a  moment's  confabulation  with  a  crowd  of  her  neigh- 
bours the  woman  demanded  the  other  half  dollar.  At 
this  the  Hawaiian  asked  for  the  piece  of  money  she  had, 
took  it,  and  gave  back  the  girdle.  In  an  instant  the 
whole  place  was  in  an  uproar.  Men  bounded  up  with 
furious  gestures;  the  old  men  in  the  Council  House 
shouted  with  threatening  yells,  while  the  Hawaiian, 
leaping  to  his  feet,  his  eyes  flashing  like  a  cat's  in  the 
dark,  defied  them  all.  Fearful  that  harm  might  come 
to  him  after  we  were  gone,  I  begged  him  to  let  me  give 
the  people  whatever  they  might  ask  for,  but  he  would 
not  hear  of  it,  and  matters  were  the  worse  for  my  offer, 
as  the  people  evidently  understood  it  had  been  made. 
Finally,  leaving  the  crowd  in  a  state  of  ferment,  we 

[144] 


the    ^^ Janet    NichoV 

igth. — Jalult,  the  German  seat  of  government 
for  the  Marshalls.  We  could  see  the  commission- 
er's house,  painted  a  terra-cotta  red,  looking  very 
pretty  under  the  green  trees.  Went  on  shore,  a 
blazing  hot  day.  We  were  all  dressed  up  for  the 

walked  away  with  the  Hawaiian  to  his  very  pleasant 
house,  he  entertaining  us  on  the  way  with  a  list  of  the 
laws  made  that  day  by  the  "old  men."  They  were  as 
follows:  "Dancing,  one  dollar  fine;  concealed  weapons, 
five  dollars;  murder,  fifteen;  stealing,  twenty-five,  and 
telling  a  lie,  fifty  dollars."  Pretty  soon  the  crowd  began 
surging  round  us;  there  was  more  furious  talk,  the 
Hawaiian  looking  very  fine  as  he  walked  toward  the 
mass  of  people,  shaking  his  fists  and,  I  am  bound 
to  say,  interlarding  his  language  with  English  oaths. 
When  he  had  forced  the  crowd  back  by,  I  really  think, 
the  fire  of  his  eye,  he  laughed  in  their  faces  contemptu- 
ously and  turned  to  me  translating  the  meaning  of  the 
scene.  The  "old  men"  had  made  another  law,  against 
him,  placing  him  under  tapu  so  that  he  could  neither 
trade  nor  be  traded  with.  I  felt  very  miserable  at  being 
the  innocent  cause  of  so  much  trouble.  He  said  he  did 
not  care  a  rush  and  meant  to  leave  the  island  anyway. 
He  had  married  a  native  of  Maraki,  bringing  her  home 
to  visit  her  people,  with  whom  she  had  proposed  they 
should  stop,  but  now,  he  said,  she  was  as  eager  to  go 
as  he  was.  When  we  left  he  presented  us  with  a  girdle 
that  he  had  somehow  got  hold  of  and  his  wife  gave 
me  a  young  fowl.  I,  very  fortunately,  had  a  handsome 
wreath  of  flowers  on  my  hat  which  I  took  off^  and  gave 
the  wife.  It  was  amusing  to  watch  the  dandy  of  the 
village,  the  haughty  and  insolent  fat  young  man  who 

[145] 


The    Cruise    of 

occasion,  Louis  with  his  best  trousers,  yellow  silk 
socks  of  a  very  odd  shape,  knitted  by  his  mother 
for  a  parting  present,  dirty  white  canvas  shoes, 
and  a  white  linen  coat  from  the  trade  room  that 

had  been  too  languid  to  see  us  before,  trying  to  keep 
all  speculation  out  of  his  eyes  when  I  passed  over  the 
wreath.  He  could  not  do  it.  The  red  imitation  currants 
held  his  gaze  like  fish-hooks. 

We  sailed  away  quite  gaily  from  Maraki,  fell  into  a 
calm,  and  had  to  turn  and  come  back  again,  so  had  yet 
another  day,  and  all  together  four,  before  we  really 
got  away.  All  the  time,  more  or  less,  we  were  overrun 
by  the  traders,  who  came  to  beg  drink  and  buy  and  sell. 

We  have  now  seen  the  South  Sea  "bad  man"  of  the 
story-books,  Peter  Grant.  He  always  comes  with  "Little 
Peter,"  a  kindly,  simple  lad  who  has  been  on  the  island 
since  he  was  thirteen  and  speaks  excellent  English 
with  the  native  tossing  and  eyebrow  lifting.  (Little 
Peter  died  from  poisoning  some  years  after;  it  was  sup- 
posed to  be  a  murder.)  Peter  Grant  is  the  most  hideous 
ruffian  I  have  ever  beheld.  The  skin  of  his  face  has  the 
quality  of  a  burn  scar  and  is  crossed  with  wrinkles  in 
places  where  no  other  human  being  has  wrinkles.  His 
forehead  is  narrow  and  retreating,  his  eyes  very  light, 
with  a  strange  scaly  look,  not  a  pair  in  size,  colour,  or 
movement,  and  set  too  close  together  in  a  large,  gaunt 
face.  His  nose,  hooked  at  the  end  until  it  almost  touches 
his  upper  lip,  is  unusually  bony  and  is  bent  over  to 
the  left  as  though  from  a  blow.  His  coarse-lipped,  stupid 
mouth  is  creased  with  slashes  like  cuts.  One  of  his  un- 
pleasant peculiarities  is  what  Louis  calls  "crow's-feet 
between  the  eyes." 

[146] 


the    ^^  Janet    N  i  ch  o  T  * 

could  not  be  buttoned  because  of  its  curious  fit. 
It  was  hoped,  however,  that  a  gold  watch  and 
chain  might  cover  all  deficiencies.  I  wore  a  blue 
linen  native  dress,  entirely  concealed   by  a   long 

The  next  to  the  last  day  at  Maraki  Lloyd  and  I 
went  ashore  with  the  captain,  who  had,  as  he  said, 
"business  to  attend  to"  with  a  missionary.  (The  Ha- 
waiian missionary  who  was  to  travel  in  the  Morning 
Star  with  our  dear  Maka  of  Butaritari.)  I  knew  the 
business  had  something  to  do  with  a  tapu  put  upon 
Peter  Grant  some  six  months  ago,  but  that  a  concerted 
attack  was  to  be  made  upon  the  old  missionary  I  did 
not  suspect  or  I  should  never  have  gone.  We  were  met 
by  my  friend  the  young  Hawaiian,  who  accompanied 
us  to  the  missionaries'  house.  There  the  best  seat  was 
offered  me,  all  being  received  with  dignified  hospitality 
as  they  dropped  in,  one  horror  after  another.  Little 
Peter  was  appointed  interpreter.  The  missionary  was 
charged,  first,  with  having  instigated  the  natives  to 
tapu  Peter  Grant.  It  was  supposed  he  denied  this,  but 
in  reality  he  did  not.  Head  and  shoulders  above  the 
rest  he  sat,  a  fine,  massive  figure,  with  impenetrable 
Chinese  eyes,  master  of  the  situation.  I  only  noticed 
once  any  sign  of  perturbation  in  him;  that  was  when 
the  head  of  the  "old  men"  was  brought  in  to  be  ques- 
tioned. The  missionary  made  a  quick  attempt  to  put 
the  old  man  on  his  guard,  but  was  instantly  checked 
by  a  trader,  who  leaped  to  his  feet  and  shook  his  fist 
in  the  missionary's  face,  ordering  him  to  be  silent.  The 
missionary  smiled  contemptuously,  but  a  thick  sweat 
gathered  upon  his  face  and  neck,  his  hands  trembled 
slightly,  and  his  great  chest  rose  and  fell,  slowly  and 

[147] 


The    Cruise    of 

black  lace  cloak,  and  on  my  head  a  black  turban 
with  a  spotted  veil.  Our  feet  were  certainly  the 
weak  point,  my  stockings  being  red  and  my  shoes 
cut  in  ribbons  by  the  coral.  Not  having  gloves,  I 
put  on  all  my  rings  which  flashed  bravely  in  the 

heavily.  Feeling  that  to  gaze  upon  him  was  an  indeli- 
cacy, though  I  was  doing  so  in  sympathy  and  admira- 
tion, I  made  a  slight  movement  to  turn  aw^ay;  as  though 
he  knew  my  thought,  the  missionary  suddenly  looked 
me  in  the  eyes  with  a  charming  smile,  fanned  me  a 
moment  with  a  fan  that  lay  beside  him,  then  handed 
me  the  fan  with  a  bow. 

Fortunately,  the  attempt  to  warn  the  "old  man" 
had  been  enough,  for  he  seemed  idiotic  in  his  apparent 
endeavours  to  understand  what  was  wanted  of  him. 
The  charge  against  the  missionary  then  changed  to 
theft.  He  was  said  to  have  stolen  a  murdered  man's 
property.  In  answ^er  to  that  he  said:  "Then  place  the 
affair  in  the  hands  of  either  the  first  man-of-war  that 
comes  to  the  group  or  the  Morning  Star"  which  is 
daily  expected.  The  traders  all  cried  out  with  fury  at 
the  mention  of  the  Morning  Star,  and,  all  speaking  at 
once,  charged  him  with  instigating  the  natives  to  all 
sorts  of  evil  when  he  should  be  setting  them  a  good 
example.  For  the  first  time  he  retorted,  saying  that  the 
missionaries  came  only  to  try  to  make  the  people  better, 
and  that  the  only  difficulty  was  the  wickedness  of  the 
white  men.  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  I  got  the  impression 
that  there  was  something  in  danger  of  being  discovered 
which  would  have  been  to  the  disadvantage  of  the 
missionary,  but  not  exactly  what  the  traders  were 
looking  for.  They  were  too  stupid  to  see  that,  and  were 

[148] 


the    ^^  Janet    N ichoV  ' 

sun.  On  board  ship  our  appearance  caused  a  de- 
cided sensation  and  was  considered  most  respect- 
able, and  reflecting  great  credit  on  the  Janet. 
The  commissioner  received  us  at  his  door,  offered 
us  wine,  and  while  we  were  drinking  it  in  came 

forced  to  come  to  a  pause,  having  gained  nothing. 
Both  Lloyd  and  I  had  a  distressed  feeling  that  we  might 
be  confounded  with  their  party  in  the  mind  of  the  mis- 
sionary, but  he  reassured  us  with  his  eyes,  and,  pushing 
aside  those  in  his  way,  shook  hands  with  Lloyd  and  then 
with  me.  I  held  his  hand  and  pressed  it  and  said  all 
that  eyes  and  smile  could  manage. 

As  we  went  out  of  the  house  the  missionary's  wife 
made  me  a  present  of  a  fowl.  The  Hawaiian  joined  us 
as  we  passed  his  place  and  his  wife  ran  out  with  an- 
other fowl.  I  had  made  up  a  little  parcel  for  her,  a 
red  comb,  a  bead  necklace,  a  bottle  of  fine  scent,  and 
a  striped  blue-and-white  summer  jersey,  with  a  large 
silk  handkerchief  for  her  husband.  The  next  day  they, 
with  their  little  daughter,  came  to  pay  us  a  visit  on 
board,  fetching  with  them  three  young  fowls  and  a 
very  fine,  beautiful  mat  of  a  pattern  I  had  not  seen 
before.  Louis  was  greatly  pleased  with  my  friends  and 
promised  to  send  the  man  his  photograph.  When  he 
said  good-bye,  to  our  surprise  he  asked  for  Louis's 
card,  which  was  a  piece  of  civilisation  we  were  not  pre- 
pared for.  We  have  touched  at  no  island  where  there 
has  not  been  at  least  one  person  we  were  sorry  to  leave 
and  should  be  glad  to  meet  again,  though  this  was 
the  only  place  where  these  friends  were  foreign  to  the 
land. 

•  •••••t* 

[149] 


The    Cruise    of 

Captain  Brandeis/  a  slender,  sallow  man  with  a 
small  head  and  the  most  extraordinary  eyes  of 
glittering  blackness  which  seemed  to  shrink  from 
meeting  one's  gaze  and  yet  to  challenge  it  with 
a  nervous  defiance.  He  was  pale,  and  I  thought 
he  was  prepared  for  an  unpleasant  meeting  with 
Louis;  that  wore  off  very  quickly,  and  the  two 
were  soon  deep  in  conversation,  I  talking  twaddle 
with  the  commissioner  that  Louis  might  have  the 
captain  alone,  Louis  is  fascinated  by  the  captain 
and  I  do  not  wonder;  but  his  eye  is  too  wild,  he 
is  too  nervous,  and  his  nose  is  not  to  be  depended 
on — a  weak  and  emotional  nose.  A  man,  I  should 
say,  capable  of  the  most  heroic  deeds,  sometimes 
preternaturally  wise,  and  sometimes  proportion- 
ately foolish;  a  born  adventurer,  but  never  a  suc- 
cessful one. 

The  commissioner  showed  me  the  "garden," 
an  acre  or  so  of  high-island  plants  grown  in  for- 
eign soil  brought  in  vessels.  The  commissioner's 
room  was  decorated  with  trophies  of  native  arms, 
armour,  etc.  He  promised  to  have  a  native  sailing 
chart  made  for  Louis.  These  charts  are  very  curi- 
ous things,  indeed,  made  of  sticks,  some  curved, 
some  straight,  caught  here  and  there  by  a  small 
yellow  cowry.  The  cowries  represent  islands,  the 

'  A  political  refugee  from  Samoa. 
[150] 


the    ^'' Janet    NichoT* 

sticks  both  currents  and  winds  and  days'  sailing. 
The  distances  between  the  islands  have  nothing 
to  do  with  miles,  but  with  hours  only.  These  charts 
are  very  little  used  now,  only  one  old  chief  know- 
ing how  to  make  them,  but  the  time  was  when 
each  young  chief  must  pass  his  examination  in 
the  charts,  knowing  them  by  heart,  as  they  were 
never  taken  to  sea  but  kept  at  home  for  reference 
and  continual  study.  We  lunched  with  the  com- 
missioner and,  the  steam-whistle  calling  us  soon 
after,  we  went  on  board  to  start  immediately  for 
Majuro. 

20th. — At  Majuro  early  in  the  morning,  a  pearl 
of  atolls.  The  lagoon,  large  and  round,  but  not  so 
large  that  we  cannot  distinctly  follow  the  coast- 
line. At  the  entrance  it  is  broken  into  the  most 
enchanting  small  islets,  all  very  green  and  soft, 
the  lagoon  clear  and  in  colour  like  a  chrysoprase. 
Mr.  Henderson  offered  us  a  little  house  on  the 
windward  side,  so  we  took  our  mats  and  blankets 
and  a  lantern  with  us  in  the  boat.  The  house  was 
the  old  "lookout"  consisting  of  a  single  room  with 
latticework  running  along  two  sides  of  the  wall 
under  the  roof;  this  lattice  served  for  windows. 
The  door  had  a  padlock  so  we  could  lock  it  as  we 
came  and  went. 

I  had  taken  my  paints  with  me  and  made  a 

[iSi] 


The    Cruise    of 

little  portrait  of  a  native  girl  called  **Topsy"  by 
her  white  husband.  She  was  a  very  small,  very 
thin  creature,  greatly  given  to  dress.  She  seemed 
to  live  with  several  other  women  in  a  sort  of  boat- 
builders'  shed,  where  I  would  always  find  her,  her 
thick  hair  shining  with  oil  and  carefully  braided, 
a  different  head-dress  for  a  different  hour — her 
keys  hanging  below  her  rows  of  necklaces,  busily 
employed  at  something  or  other;  sometimes  it 
was  a  necklace  she  was  stringing  on  shreds  of 
pandanus  leaves,  sometimes  a  new  print  gown  she 
was  cutting  out  with  a  most  capable,  businesslike 
air;  or  she  might  be  feeding  her  monkey  {"mon- 
kaia"  she  called  it)  or  her  gentle-eyed  dog;  or, 
most  interesting  task  of  all,  sorting  her  possessions 
into  order.  She  had  two  pretty  large  camphor- 
wood  chests  quite  filled  up  with  cotton  prints, 
coloured  handkerchiefs,  and  various  accessories  of 
the  toilet.  She  dressed  for  the  portrait  in  a  gown 
of  cheese-cloth  drawn  in  at  the  waist  by  a  white 
cotton  belt  edged  with  blue  and  white;  the  yoke 
of  the  bodice  and  the  sleeves  were  trimmed  to 
match,  and  the  hem  of  the  skirt  was  marked  with 
a  black  braid.  Her  hair,  smoothly  drawn  back  over 
her  little  rabbit  head,  was  ornamented  by  two 
bands  worked  in  a  design  with  beads,  and  her 
necklaces   were   innumerable.    On    one    arm    she 

[152] 


White  trader  and  his  wife  "  Topsy,"  Majuro  Island 


the    ''Janet    NichoT' 

proudly  showed  me  the  word  Majuro  tattooed 
and  on  the  other,  Topsy.  It  seems  that  she  was  a 
castaway  from  another  island,  every  other  soul  in 
the  canoe  being  lost.  She  was  absolutely  ignorant, 
and  when  something  was  said  about  her  heart, 
gravely  assured  us  that  she  had  no  heart,  being 
solid  meat  all  through.  Topsy  sat  for  her  portrait 
most  conscientiously  as  though  it  were  a  photo- 
graph, not  moving  a  hair's  breadth,  nor  hardly 
winking.  After  each  sitting  she  returned  to  exactly 
the  same  position.  I  tried  in  vain  to  make  her  take 
it  more  easily;  when  I  talked  to  her  (she  knew 
half  a  dozen  words  of  English)  she  responded  with 
stiff  lips,  trying  to  speak  without  moving  them. 
I  took  her  a  wreath  which  delighted  her,  and  just 
before  we  left  I  came  across  a  red  silk  bodice  with 
a  smocked  yoke  and  embroidered  cuffs;  just  the 
thing,  I  felt,  for  Topsy.  The  captain,  Louis,  and 
Lloyd  were  with  me  when  I  gave  it  to  her.  She 
instantly  slipped  off  her  upper  garments,  showing 
a  very  pretty  little  figure,  and  we  all  together 
robed  her  in  the  bodice.  Topsy  is  quite  a  great 
lady  with  her  female  attendants,  living  in  her 
boat-house,  sleeping  on  her  mat  beside  her  two 
chests  with  her  dog,  and  that  rich  possession  the 
" monkaia."  Some  one  the  captain  knew  took  a 
large  monkey  to  Savage  Island,  but  the  people 

[153] 


The    Cruise    of 

would  not  allow  it  to  remain;  it  was,  they  said, 
derogatory  to  their  dignity. 

There  are  broad,  well-kept  walks  on  Majuro, 
and  to  cross  the  island  to  our  cabin  was  like  pass- 
ing through  a  palm-house.  When  somebody  re- 
membered it,  fresh  palm  toddy^  was  brought  to 
us  in  the  early  morning,  and  once  tea.  Louis  slept 
on  shore  with  me  one  or  two  nights,  and  then,  as 
it  rained  a  good  deal,  it  was  judged  better  for  him 
to  remain  on  board.  The  next  night  I  slept  alone. 
At  about  two  in  the  morning  I  waked  with  the 
consciousness  that  some  one  was  in  the  room  be- 
sides myself.  I  peered  about  without  moving  and 
saw  two  native  men  who  moved  into  the  moon- 
light so  I  could  see  them  distinctly.  I  said, "Who's 
there  ?  What  do  you  want  ?  Get  away  with  you  !" 
in  the  gruffest  voice  I  could  assume,  and  after  a 
few  moments'  hesitation,  they  made  off.  One  eve- 
ning, while  Louis  still  slept  in  the  lookout,  quite 
late,  the  room  became  filled  with  a  peculiar  and 
pleasant  fragrance.  For  some  time  we  could  not 
make  it  out,  but  it  finally  occurred  to  us  that  it 
was  the  scent  of  pandanus  nut.  Some  native,  over- 
come by  curiosity,  must  have  crept  to  the  house 

'  Fresh  palm  toddy  tastes  like  sweet  champagne 
and  is  very  wholesome;  sour  or  fermented  toddy  is 
quite  another  thing. 

1 154] 


the    ''Janet    NichoV 

so  softly  that  we  did  not  hear  him,  but  the  pan- 
danus  he  had  beein  chewing  betrayed  him.  As  they 
all  seemed  to  think  that  I  should  not  stop  alone 
so  far  away,  Lloyd  came  over  and  slept  on  Louis's 
mat.  Some  of  the  pandanus  nuts  here  I  like  very 
much;  they  are  juicy  and  of  fragrant,  tart  flavour 
like  a  good  apple. 

One  day  while  I  was  talking  to  Topsy  at  her 
door,  the  monkey  being  fastened  by  a  long,  light 
chain  to  a  tree  close  by,  a  girl  fell  down  in  a  fit. 
Her  head  struck  a  woman's  lap,  but  the  woman 
hastily  thrust  her  off  so  that  she  lay,  half  smother- 
ing, face  down,  in  the  sand.  She  sniffed,  and 
moaned,  and  clicked  her  teeth  together,  but  neither 
frothed  at  the  mouth,  nor  protruded  her  tongue, 
as  I  supposed  people  did  in  fits.  Not  a  soul  moved 
to  help  her,  but ''  monkaia^  leaped  on  her  head  like 
a  demon  and  began  biting  and  plucking  at  her 
hair  and  face.  I  tore  him  off  with  difficulty,  the 
men  and  women  standing  by  quite  helpless  with 
laughter.  I  had  to  threaten  a  woman  with  physical 
violence  before  she  would  drag  the  girl  away  from 
the  monkey  while  I  held  the  brute.  The  next 
morning,  while  I  was  painting  at  Topsy's  portrait, 
the  girl  who  had  the  fit  sat  on  the  floor  beside  me 
watching  the  process.  My  bottle  of  oil  and  a 
basket  of  coral  just  given  me  were  standing  be- 

1 155] 


The    Cruise    of 

tween  the  legs  of  the  easel.  Suddenly  the  girl 
lurched  forward,  upsetting  the  bottle  of  oil,  and 
had  a  fit  with  her  face  in  the  basket  of  coral.  The 
instinct  of  saving  property  brought  Topsy  to  my 
aid  this  time,  however,  and  together  we  dragged 
the  girl  to  a  safer  position. 

One  afternoon  I  asked  the  name  of  a  particu- 
larly bright-looking  girl  who  came  to  visit  the 
ship.  "Neel,"  was  the  reply.  "How  did  she  get 
that  name?"  I  asked.  *'0h,  it  came  in  this  way: 
She  was  a  sharp  little  child,  and  some  white  man 
said  she  was  sharp  as  a  needle,  so  they  called  her 
needle."  Neel  is  the  nearest  they  come  to  pro- 
nouncing it.  I  was  told  that  Neel  was  a  capital 
mimic  and  actress.  I  made  an  offering  of  a  wreath 
and  she  agreed  to  give  me  an  example  of  her  skill 
if  all  the  white  men  went  away.  First,  she  said 
(Johnny,  a  half-caste,  interpreting),  she  would 
represent  a  well-known  native  woman,  with  an 
impediment  in  her  speech,  on  a  visit  to  a  neigh- 
bour; immediately  her  round,  fat  face  twisted  it- 
self into  a  thousand  wrinkles,  and  her  thick,  pro- 
truding lips  became  pinched  and  thin,  on  one  side 
lifted  like  a  harelip.  She  spoke  like  a  person  with 
a  cleft  palate,  very  garrulously,  making  polite  in- 
quiries about  different  members  of  the  family  she 
was  supposed  to  visit,  but  never  waiting  for  an 

[156] 


the    ^^Ja7tet    N ichoV  ' 

answer.  After  this  impersonation  she  assumed  a 
prim  air  and,  with  a  dry,  nipping  precision  of 
speech,  and  neat  little  persuasive  gestures,  gave 
us  a  bit  of  an  English  missionary's  sermon.  The 
voice  was  a  man's  voice,  and  the  English  accent 
in  speaking  the  native  words  perfect.  Had  I  not 
been  aware  that  the  girl  was  speaking,  I  should 
have  felt  certain  I  could  pick  out  the  man  by 
his  face;  I  knew  it,  and  his  figure,  and  his  um- 
brella. 

I  am  told  they  go  in  for  "devil  work'*  heie; 
they  call  it  "bu-bu,"  which  reminds  one  of  the 
negro  word.  When  their  old  witch  women  (they 
are  always  old)  wish  to  lure  a  vessel  to  destruction 
they  run  up  and  down  the  beach  shouting  their 
incantations,  waving,  as  they  run,  a  long  stick 
with  a  red  rag  on  the  end.  A  man  whose  vessel 
was  wrecked  on  these  islands  told  me  that  as  the 
ship  neared  the  rock  where  they  struck  they  could 
distinctly  see  an  old  woman  rushing  along  the 
beach  waving  her  red  rag. 

A  Mr.  R told  Lloyd  that  in  New  Ireland 

he  had  had  a  similar  experience  to  that  of  Tom 
Day.  A  man  had  attacked  him,  and  he  had  said 
to  the  bystanders:  "I'll  give  an  axe  for  that  man's 
head."  The  next  morning  he  discovered  the  head 
stuck  on  his  gate-post.   He   said   he   had   often 

[157] 


The    Cruise    of 

bought  victims  set  apart  to  be  eaten  for  ten  sticks 
of  tobacco.  If  he  paid  up  honourably,  the  natives 
were  honourable  in  return,  and  never  after  mo- 
lested his  man. 

One  evening  I  stopped  at  Mr.  M *s  to 

wait  while  some  one  went  on  board  for  my  key, 
which  I  had  forgotten.  Tin  Jack,  who  was  there, 
promptly  presented  me  with  a  fine  piece  of  stag- 
horn  coral  belonging  to  our  host,  following  up  the 
coral  with  presents  of  elaborately  worked  mats, 
some  of  which  he  gave  in  his  own  name  and  some 

in  Mr.  M 's,  until   he    had   made  me  the 

embarrassed  recipient  of  four.  The  captain,  who 
dropped  In,  was  also  requested  to  make  choice  of 

a  pair  of  the  best.   Poor  Mr.  M ,  feeling 

that  It  would  be  more  graceful  to  give  his  own 
presents,  then  offered  me  a  curious  fish  preserved 
in  a  bottle  which  Mr.  Hird,  much  to  my  distress, 
scornfully  refused  on  my  behalf  as  a  present 
**unfit  for  a  lady." 

The  Marshalls  seem  a  very  damp,  rainy  group 
of  Islands,  but,  in  consequence,  breadfruit  grows 
on  most  of  them,  and  bananas  on  many.  We  had 
expected  to  fill  up  with  copra  at  Majuro,  but 
measles  has  been  ravaging  the  islands.  The  King 
himself,  whom  we  had  wished  greatly  to  see,  old 
Jebberk,  lay  dying  and  tapued  to  whites.  Two 


Kaibuke — one  of  the  kings  of  Majuro 


the    ^^  Janet    NichoV^ 

other  Kings  came  to  visit  us  on  the  vessel,  both 
very  fine,  inteIHgent-looking  men.  One  was  dressed 
in  a  mat  breech-clout  and  a  comical  red  shirt  or 
jacket,  and  had  his  hair  done  up  on  the  top  of  his 
head  Japanese  fashion.  The  other  wore  a  red-and- 
blue-figured  petticoat,  very  full  at  the  waist,  where 
it  was  gathered  in  with  native  cord.  Around  his 
neck  he  had  a  pink  shell  necklace,  and  his  hair 
was  done  in  the  same  high  knot  as  affected  by  the 
first  King.  We  had  finished  luncheon  when  the  last 
king  came,  so  he  had  his  alone  spread  at  one  corner 
of  the  table.  I  gave  him  a  wreath,  of  the  best,  for 
his  queen;  he  admired  it  greatly,  and  examined  it 
over  and  over.  Finally  he  turned  to  me  saying, 
**What  you  want?"  pointing  to  the  wreath.  He 
meant  to  ask  what  would  I  like  for  a  return  pres- 
ent. I  said  "Nothing,"  which  was  a  mistake,  after- 
ward cleverly  rectified  by  Louis.  The  King  asked 
through  an  interpreter  how  long  it  would  be  before 
the  Janet  sailed,  as  all  his  things  were  at  his  own 
village,  and  he  wanted  to  get  some  mats  for  me. 
Louis  replied  that  we  were  sailing  almost  immedi- 
ately but  that  when  we  returned  we  would  be 
most  happy  to  receive  his  present.  This  proved 
satisfactory,  and  the  King  was  put  at  his  ease. 

2\ih. — Left  Majuro. 

2^th. — Again  at  Jaluit.  Went  to  see  the  com- 

[159] 


The    Cruise    of 

missioner,  where  we  found  our  island  charts  await- 
ing us.  Louis  and  the  commissioner  and  Captain 
Brandeis  tried  to  make  out  the  names  of  the  islands 
by  comparing  the  charts  with  our  European  map, 
but  failed;  a  man  who  had  been  thirty  years  in 
the  islands  was  consulted,  and  afterward  a  na- 
tive, but  still  they  were  baffled.  It  was  finally  set- 
tled that  the  thirty-year  resident  should  see  the 
maker  of  the  charts  (now  absent)  and  get  a  com- 
plete key  to  be  sent  to  Samoa.  Lloj^d  bought  some 
German  beer,  which  is  excellent,  and  I  bought 
two  jars  of  sweeties,  a  couple  of  Pleasant  Island 
baskets,  several  pieces  of  tortoise-shell,  and  some 
abominable  sausages.  The  commissioner  gave  me 
two  shells  and  Captain  Brandeis  gave  me  a  lovely 
one,  also  a  black  mother-of-pearl  shell,  such  as 
the  Gilbert  Islanders  use  for  trade. 

Left  the  same  day,  towing  out  a  schooner. 

2jth. — Arrived  at  Namorik.  Louis  went  on 
shore  and  met  a  wicked  old  man  who  afterward 
appeared  in  the  "Beach  of  Falesa." 

28/A. — First  thing  in  the  morning  at  Ebon;  an- 
chored in  the  passage  nearly  opposite  the  wreck 
of  the  Ilazeltine,  American  schooner.  Left  early 
in  the  afternoon. 

July  1st. — Arrived  Apiang,  lay  outside.  Louis 
ill.  Captain  Tierney  came  off  in  a  canoe.  No  copra. 

[160] 


the    ^  ^  J  an  et    N  ichoV  ^ 

The  missionaries  in  power  and  a  general  tapu. 
On  to  Tarawa. 

'x^d. — Aranuka,  one  of  Tembinoka's  islands. 
Louis  still  ill.  He  was  lying  in  his  bunk  when  the 
King  and  his  people  came  on  board.  A  pleasant- 
faced  man,  who,  with  the  rest,  was  shaking  hands 
with  me,  asked  for  Louis.  I  said  he  was  ill,  where- 
upon he  demanded  to  be  taken  at  once  to  the  sick 
man.  I  guessed  that  he  was  a  medicine-man. 
Louis  said  he  stood  beside  his  bed,  with  the  gently 
soothing,  insinuating,  professional  manner  of  the 
European  practitioner,  asking  his  symptoms  and 
very  anxious  to  know  if  there  was  a  ** dog-star" 
in  Samoa. 

A  little  later  a  soft  hand  tapped  me  on  the  shoul- 
der; I  turned — it  was  the  King,  Tembinoka  him- 
self, smiling  and  holding  out  both  hands  to  me. 
He  looked  much  better  and  was  greatly  concerned 
at  Louis  being  ill.  Mr.  Henderson  is  going  to  take 
the  King's  boat  back  to  Apemama  for  him  with 
his  harem  and  court. 

^ih. — Got  under  way  at  eight  o'clock  with  about 
two  hundred  deck  passengers — all  the  King's  wives 
and  body-guard  and  retainers  generally — and 
steamed  down  to  Apemama  flying  the  royal  en- 
sign at  the  main  truck.  The  whole  ship,  every 
plank  of  her,  covered  at  night  with  sleeping  na- 

[i6i] 


The    Cruise    of 

tlves.  Among  the  rest  were  babies  and  three  dogs, 
the  latter  with  strange,  glassy,  white  eyes.  The 
King's  favourite  wife  had  a  snub-nosed  puppy, 
which,  when  it  became  restless  and  whined,  she 
put  to  her  breast  and  suckled.  All  the  head  women 
had  their  devil  boxes,  taking  the  greatest  care 
of  them.  They  consulted  me  about  ours  through 
every  interpreter  they  could  find.  They  always  re- 
ferred to  the  box  indirectly;  the  interpreter  would 
be  told  first  to  ask  if  I  had  not  carried  away  from 
Apemama  something  very  precious.  Upon  my 
answering  that  I  had,  questions  were  then  put  as 
to  its  whereabouts,  etc.  Louis  and  I  were  talking 
to  the  King  on  a  different  matter  in  which  the  es- 
cape of  hissing  steam  was  mentioned.  His  Majesty 
jumped  to  the  conclusion  that  we  were  speaking 
of  the  devil  box,  and  assured  us  that  we  need  feel 
no  alarm  when  the  shell  inside  (representing  the 
devil,  Tiaporo)  made  a  noise.  We  had  only  to 
give  it  a  very  small  bit  of  tobacco  and  that  would 
settle  him.  He  thought  it  a  good  sign,  and  that  the 
shell  was  in  proper  mediumistic  order  when  Tia- 
poro was  noisy,  though  he  confessed  it  would  be 
better  if  we  had  a  "dog-star"  handy.  A  quarter 
of  an  hour  later  all  the  King's  women  were  in  a 
state  of  ferment  concerning  our  devil  box,  the 
news  of  Tiaporo's  behaviour  causing  the  most 
excited  comments. 

[162] 


the    '^  Janet    NichoT^ 

The  getting  on  board  of  the  people  was  a  wild 
affair  of  noise  and  confusion.  Boat  after  boat  was 
unladen,  and  piles  of  the  most  extraordinary- 
household  goods  blocked  up  every  space  that 
should  have  been  kept  clear;  at  least  twenty-five 
large  zinc  pails  came  from  one  boat.  There  were 
sewing-machines,  large  rosewood  musical  boxes, 
axes  and  spades,  cutlasses,  unwieldy  bag  pillows, 
every  conceivable  sort  of  bag  and  basket,  cocoa- 
nut  shells  of  toddy  syrup,  and  shells  of  water;  old 
nuts,  new  nuts,  every  sort  of  nut;  also  large  pack- 
ages of  the  native  pudding  (giant  taro  pounded  up 
with  pandanus  syrup  and  cocoanut  milk,  baked 
underground  in  taro  leaves),  and  piles  of  neatly 
done  up  sticks  of  what  we  call  sweet  sawdust, 
made  of  the  beaten  pandanus  nut.  There  were 
camphor-wood  chests  of  every  size,  and  mat  pack- 
ages without  end.  One  woman  was  trying  in  vain 
to  find  a  place  for  her  ear  piercer,  a  stick  of  hard, 
black  seaweed,  some  two  feet  long,  tapering  from 
the  circumference  of  a  couple  of  inches  in  the  mid- 
dle to  a  smooth,  sharp  point  at  either  end;  round 
each  side  of  the  centre,  where  it  was  intended  the 
hand  should  grasp  it,  was  a  ring  of  yellow  feathers 
worked  with  human  hair;  these  looked  just  the 
same  as  the  royal  Hawaiian  feathers — also  those 
on  the  peace  spears  I  got  at  Savage  Island — but  I 
have  never  seen  the  bird  that  produces  them. 

[163] 


The    Cruise    of 

Our  black  boys  are  almost  insane  with  excite- 
ment and  "Tom  Sawyered"  to  such  a  degree, 
showing  ofF  before  the  court  ladies,  that  it  was  a 
wonder  and  mercy  none  were  killed.  When  they 
were  raising  the  boats  to  the  davits,  Louis  said 
they  were  upside  down  more  often  than  not, 
doing  herculean  feats  of  strength.  The  harem 
ladies  were  gathered  together  aft  and  a  tapu 
placed  round  them.  Ladies  of  a  lower  station 
found  what  places  pleased  them  best  and  had  a 
much  gayer  time  than  the  great  ones,  for  the 
black  boys  sang,  and  danced,  and  shouted  with 
merriment  the  whole  night  through.  The  very  old 
ladies  of  high  rank — the  King's  mother,  hopelessly 
drunk  on  gin,  which  she  carried  everywhere  with 
her,  the  King's  aunt,  and  one  or  two  others — spent 
the  night  on  the  captain's  bridge.  The  people  all 
showed  the  utmost  affection  for  us,  our  old  friend 
and  servant  "Snipe"  in  particular.  ("Snipe"  was 
one  of  three  slave  girls  lent  us  by  Tembinoka 
when  we  lived  at  Apemama,  in  Equator  Town. 
The  other  two  we  called  Stodge  and  Fatty.)  She 
would  seize  every  opportunity  to  get  beside  me, 
when  she  would  smooth  my  hair,  fondle  my  hands, 
and  alternately  put  her  arm  round  my  waist  and 
poke  me  in  the  ribs  with  her  elbows,  giggling  sen- 
timentally the  while. 

[164] 


the    ^^  Janet    NichoT' 

Quite  late  at  night  Uncle  Parker  sneaked  down 
to  the  saloon  and  squatted  on  the  floor  with  a 
kindly  grin.  He  was  not  in  the  least  surprised  nor 
offended  when  Louis  hustled  him  out.  I  had  not 
had  the  heart  to  do  it  myself,  as  I  should. 

Among  the  rest  of  the  people  was  a  man  who 
had  known  us  in  Butaritari;  he  gave  us  full  news 
of  our  Cowtubs^  there.  Tembinoka's  governor, 
whom  we  had  known  as  Reuben,  who  now  says 
his  name  is  Raheboam,  begged  that  I  would  speak 
to  the  King  and  ask  that  he  might  go  away  with 
us.  I  assured  him  that  it  would  be  useless;  the 
King  could  not  afford  to  part  with  a  man  of  his 
talents  and  acquirements,  which  is  quite  true.  In 
the  forecastle  were  the  unfortunate  exiles  of  Peru, 
among  them  our  "Boat's  crew"  looking  very 
pretty  and  pert  but  grown  no  larger.  Some  years 
ago,  I  do  not  know  how  many,  a  large  party  of 
the  natives  of  Peru,  thinking  to  see  the  world, 
bought  return  tickets  from  the  Wightman  line  to 
one  of  the  other  islands.  They  were  warned  that 
they  must  take  their  chances  of  a  schooner  going 
back  to  their  own  place.  No  schooner  did;  but 
they  were  carried  on  from  island  to  island,  each 
trip  getting  a  little  nearer  home.  The  boy  called 
"Boat's  crew"  had  been   a   servant   of  ours    at 

^  Retainers. 
[165] 


The    Cruise    of 

Apemama,  one  of  their  halting  places.  They  are 
to  be  taken  on  to  Nanouti,  a  station  so  much  the 
nearer  home.  An  old  man  who  was  anxious  to  die 
on  his  native  soil  is  still  living  and  looks  a  hundred 
years  old,  his  head  entirely  bald  except  for  a  tuft 
at  the  nape  of  his  neck. 

^th. — At  Apemama,  landing  the  court.  Tin  Jack 
had  to  sell  a  pet  canoe  he  was  taking  to  his  sta- 
tion to  the  King,  who  insisted  on  having  it.  It  cost 
five  dollars  and  the  King  gave  twenty  for  it;  so,  as 
a  commercial  speculation,  it  was  no  loss.  When 
the  King  came  on  board  this  morning  he  laid  a 
fine  mat  on  my  lap. 

Later  a  great  wailing  arose  from  the  forward 
deck.  A  woman  who  had  taken  possession  of  an- 
other woman's  husband  was  being  sent  away  with 
her  people  of  the  Peru  party,  and  conceived  it 
her  duty  to  have  an  attack  of  nerves.  She  did  not 
do  it  so  well  as  they  manage  in  France,  but  it 
was  of  the  same  order,  and  reasonably  credit- 
able. Her  hysterical  kicking  and  choking  cries, 
when  held  back  by  her  companions  from  drown- 
ing herself,  was  the  most  effective  part  of  the 
performance.  She  soon  gave  it  up,  probably  be- 
cause of  the  lack  of  interest  shown  by  the  by- 
standers. 

In  the  evening  we  had  a  farewell  dinner  with 

[i66] 


the    ^^  Janet    NichoV^ 

Tin  Jack,  champagne,  toasts,  speeches,  etc.  At 
night  a  party  went  on  shore  with  fireworks;  Mr. 
Henderson  answered  with  a  display  from  the  ship. 
As  I  was  watching  them  I  overheard  a  conversa- 
tion between  a  white  fireman  and  our  cook  about 
the  dangers  of  the  land.  "Why,  one  of  my  mates," 
said  the  fireman,  "got  lost  in  the  bush  once,  and 
it  was  a  whole  day  before  he  got  a  drink  of  water. 
I  wouldn't  take  the  chance  of  that  for  all  the 
money  you  could  give  me."  I  reminded  him  that 
wrecked  sailors  had  been  known  to  suffer  from 
thirst;  he  had  never  thought  of  that,  he  said,  but 
anyhow  it  didn't  seem  the  same.  The  fireworks 
were  very  successful,  and  I  think  pleased  our 
black  boys  more  than  any  one  else.  The  ship  rang 
with  their  shouts  and  musical,  girlish  laughter. 
All  afternoon  they  had  been  scraping  the  ship's 
sides  under  water;  it  looked  very  odd  to  see  them 
kicking  like  frogs  and  working  at  the  same  time; 
yet,  after  all  this,  they  were  ready  for  more  danc- 
ing and  songs.  Louis  and  I  agreed  that  we  would 
willingly  pay  a  high  price  for  only  Sally  Day's 
superfluous  energy  to  use  at  our  discretion.  All 
these  men  are  from  cannibal  islands,  but  do  not 
like  that  fact  referred  to.  When  Mr.  Hird  teases 
them  about  it  they  declare  they  were  mere  in- 
fants when  they  were  taken   away  and   can   re- 

[167] 


The    Cruise    of 

member  nothing  about  the  savage  customs  of 
their  people. 

6th. — Off  Apemama,  our  black  boys  lying  in  a 
row  under  the  awning,  one  reading  the  Bible  (it 
was  Sunday)  and  another  playing  hymns  on  an 
accordion.  The  King  took  breakfast  with  us,  and 
we  bade  him  good-bye,  not  so  sadly  as  before, 
because  now  we  have  some  hope  of  seeing  him 
again. 

Jth. — Nanouti  first  thing  in  the  morning.  Went 
on  shore  after  breakfast  to ''Billy  Jones's  cousin's" 
place  where  British  colours  were  flying.  Tin  Jack 
wished  to  be  photographed  in  his  new  place  in  the 
midst  of  his  new  surroundings,  so  we  had  the 
camera  with  us.  Lloyd  and  I  wandered  about  and 
were  astonished  at  the  number  of  houses  we  saw 
piled  up  w^ith  dried  cocoanuts  not  yet  made  into 
copra.  We  were  told  that  a  famine  was  feared  and 
these  nuts  were  stored  as  provisions.  Speaking  of 
provisions,  we  were  struck  by  the  difference  in  the 
condition  of  our  Piru  friends  since  we  were  fellow 
passengers  with  them  on  the  schooner  Equator. 
Then  they  were  in  the  most  abject  poverty,  hardly 
a  mat  among  them,  no  food,  only  a  few  shells  of 
water  and  a  few  old  nuts.  When  we  took  them  off 
Apemama  they  came  as  rich  people,  with  bundles 
of  fine  mats,  stacks  of  "sawdust"  food  and  dried 

[i68] 


the    ^^  Janet    Nichol 


pandanus  fruit  (ver}^  good,  tasting  like  dried  figs) 
and  quantities,  generally,  of  the  best  food  pro- 
duced in  Apemama.  The  people  all  have  cotton- 
print  clothing  as  well  as  fine  ridis'  and  baskets  full 
of  tobacco  with  plenty  of  pipes. 

While  Lloyd  and  I  were  walking  about  in  Na- 
nouti,  Tin  Jack  went  back  to  the  ship  quite  oblivi- 
ous of  the  fact  that  we  were  left  prisoners  on  ac- 
count of  the  tide,  for  the  entire  day.  When  we 
arrived  we  had  to  take  down  part  of  the  wall 
of  a  fishing  ground  to  land  at  the  house.  We  left 
the  ship  at  ten  and  were  tired,  hungry,  and  very 
cross  at  being  so  deserted.  Lloyd  finally  went  off 
to  try  and  find  a  canoe,  hoping  to  reach  the  ship 
in  that  way  and  get  something  for  me  to  eat.  I 
had  got  very  wet  in  crossing  the  surf  in  our  own 
boat  and  was  dressed  in  a  filthy  gown  and  chemise 
lent  me  by  a  native  woman.  I  asked  for  a  dry  gown 
when  I  arrived  and  the  woman  gave  me  one  she 
had  cast  off;  I  did  not  know  what  to  do,  as  it  was 
quite  transparent,  so  I  had  to  stay  in  the  inner 
room.  Tin  Jack,  hearing  of  this,  demanded  a  che- 
mise for  me.  The  woman  removed  the  one  she 
was  wearing,  in  a  dark  corner,  folded  it  up,  and 
then  pretended  to  take  it  out  of  a  trunk  which  she 
opened  for  the  purpose.  After  this  piece  of  either 
pride  or  delicacy  I  felt  bound  to  put  it  on.  As 

[169] 


The    Cruise    of 

my  head  ached,  I  lay  down  on  a  mat,  with  an  in- 
describably filthy  pillow  under  my  head,  and  tried 
to  sleep.  The  people  of  the  house,  some  twenty  in 
number,  came  in  every  few  moments  to  look  at  me; 
if  the  children  made  a  noise  they  were  smacked, 
thereupon  bawling  loudly  enough  to  raise  the 
roof,  and  occasionally  a  crowd  of  outside  children 
would  be  beaten  from  the  house  with  howls  and 
yells.  I  never  saw  so  much  "discipline"  admin- 
istered before  in  any  of  the  islands.  Outside  my 
window  a  child  was  steadily  smacked  for  crying 
for  at  least  half  an  hour.  I  actually  did  fall  asleep 
once,  but  was  quickly  awakened  by  a  savage  dog 
fight  just  under  where  I  lay,  the  house  standing 
high  on  piles.  This  house,  belonging  to  the  trader, 
was  one  of  the  best  I  had  seen,  containing  four 
rooms  separated  by  stockades,  with  a  lofty,  airy 
roof,  while  along  the  shady  side  ran  a  neat  ve- 
randa. The  whole  house  was  tied  together  with 
sennit  the  sides  and  ends  thatched  as  well  as  the 
roof. 

Lloyd,  having  searched  for  about  an  hour  and 
a  half,  had  found  a  canoe,  and  a  native  willing  to 
take  him  off  for  the  high  price  of  ten  sticks  of 
tobacco.  In  the  meantime.  Tin  Jack,  awakening 
to  a  sense  of  the  enormity  of  his  behaviour,  had 
despatched  another  canoe  from  the  ship  with  some 

[170] 


the    ^^ Janet    NichoV' 

sandwiches,  a  tin  of  sardines  (useless  with  no  tin 
opener),  and  a  bottle  of  stout  without  a  corkscrew. 
When  Lloyd  discovered  this,  he  would  not  wait 
a  moment,  but  tried  to  get  back  to  me.  In  spite  of 
all  he  could  do,  he  was  landed  in  the  surf  some  two 
miles  short  of  where  I  was.  He  struggled  along  the 
reef,  sometimes  knocked  down  by  the  surf  and 
most  of  the  time  up  to  his  armpits  in  water.  He 
had  on  shoes  of  leather  which  became  water-logged, 
and  the  nails,  coming  loose,  tore  the  soles  of  his 
feet,  adding  to  the  difficulty  of  walking.  He  also 
cut  his  ankle  on  the  reef  and  grazed  his  leg,  both 
serious  things  to  have  happen  here.  (A  scratch  from 
dead  coral  is  apt  to  cause  blood-poisoning  and  is 
greatly  feared.  The  captain  of  a  man-of-war  was 
said  to  have  lost  his  leg  in  this  way.)  There  was 
also  the  fear  in  his  mind  that,  thinking  he  had 
landed,  I  might  have  given  my  leavings  to  the 
natives.  I  really  cannot  imagine  why  I  did  not; 
I  several  times  made  a  movement  to  do  so  and 
then  something  distracted  my  attention.  It  was 
quite  dark  before  the  ship's  boat  could  get  in  for 
us,  and  very  chill.  Tin  Jack,  most  eager  in  his 
apologies,  had  a  bad  quarter  of  an  hour. 

A  cat,  I  hear,  has  been  added  to  our  ship's  com- 
pany. At  Majuro  a  man  who  had  been  shipwrecked 
there,  and   was   taken   on   board   the   Janet   for 

[171] 


The    Cruise    of 

Sydney,  had  a  pet  cat.  One  of  the  sailors  found 
her  swimming  round  the  ship  trying  to  cHmb  up 
the  steep  sides.  An  oar  was  put  out  for  her  and  she 
cHmbed  in,  almost  drowned. 

I  begged  a  fish  from  one  of  the  black  boys,  and 
with  a  nut,  a  pinch  of  cayenne  pepper,  an  old 
dried  lemon,  and  some  sea  water,  I  made  "miti" 
sauce  and  gave  Louis  a  nice  dish  of  raw  fish  for 
his  dinner.  He  relished  it  very  much,  and  ate  all 
I  prepared.^ 

^  Raw  fish  may  seem  a  strange  delicacy  for  a  sick 
man,  but,  properly  prepared,  there  is  nothing  better 
than  fresh  raw  mullet.  I  first  learned  this  in  Tautira, 
a  lovely  native  village  on  the  "wild  side"  of  Tahiti. 
My  husband  was  alarmingly  ill  with  pneumonia,  and 
had  sunk  into  a  state  of  coma.  There  was  no  way  to 
reach  civilisation  except  by  means  of  our  yacht,  the 
Casco — and  the  Casco  was  gone  to  Papeete  to  have  her 
masts  repaired.  Crushed  by  this  catastrophe  I  was  gaz- 
ing stupidly  out  over  the  village  green,  trying  to  gather 
my  wits  together,  when  my  attention  was  distracted 
for  a  moment  by  the  spectacle  of  a  tall,  graceful,  na- 
tive woman  entering  the  house  of  the  chief  of  Tautira, 
amid  the  acclamations  of  a  great  crowd.  I  vaguely  re- 
membered that  for  many  days  there  had  been  prepara- 
tions making  for  an  expected  visit  from  Moe,  "the 
great  princess."  In  about  half  an  hour  there  was  a  tap 
at  our  door;  there  stood  Moe  with  a  plate  of  raw  fish 
prepared  with  miti  sauce.  Speaking  perfect  English,  she 
told  me  that  she  had  heard  there  was  a  sick  foreigner 
in  the  village  whose  wife  was  troubled  because  he  would 

[172] 


the    ^^  J  an  et    N  ichol 


Sth. — Remained  all  day  and  left  at  night.  A 
long  reef,  and  much  trouble  in  getting  Tin  Jack's 
things  clear  of  the  ship.  Heard  the  labour  brig 
Cito  had  been  landing  rifles  and  cartridges.  Tin 

not  eat,  so,  she  said,  she  had  made  this  dish  herself, 
and  if  we  could  only  get  him  to  taste  it  he  would  eat 
more,  and  convalescence  would  follow  immediately. 
At  first  Louis  turned  his  head  to  one  side  wearily  with- 
out opening  his  eyes,  but  by  the  advice  of  the  princess 
I  slipped  a  morsel  between  his  lips;  to  my  surprise  he 
swallowed  the  bit,  then  another,  and  finally  opened  his 
eyes  and  asked:  "What's  that?"  Several  times  a  day 
the  princess  came  with  her  plate  of  fish  and  miti  sauce, 
which  was  soon  eagerly  watched  for  and  devoured  by 
my  invalid,  and  within  the  week  Louis  had  so  far  recov- 
ered as  to  be  able  to  walk  over  to  the  chief's  house, 
where  we  took  up  our  abode  with  him  and  Moe. 

The  raw  fish,  as  prepared  in  Tahiti,  instead  of  being 
revolting  in  appearance,  as  one  might  imagine,  is  as 
pleasing  to  the  sight  as  to  the  taste.  The  fresh  white 
meat  of  the  mullet  is  cut  into  neat  little  strips  about 
half  an  inch  wide  and  a  couple  of  inches  long  and 
laid  side  by  side  on  a  plate — of  course  it  is  carefully 
freed  from  skin  and  bones — and  covered  with  miti 
sauce.  Miti  sauce  is  made  of  milk  pressed  from  cocoa- 
nut  meats  (an  entirely  different  thing  from  the  refresh- 
ing water  of  the  green  drinking  nut),  mixed  with  about 
one  third  the  quantity  of  lime-juice,  a  few  tiny  bits  of 
the  wild  red  pepper,  and  a  little  sea  water.  This  sauce 
seems  to  cook  the  fish,  which  takes  on  a  curdled  look, 
and  curls  up  a  little  at  the  edges  as  though  it  had  just 
been  boiled. 


[173] 


The    Cruise    of 

Jack  gone;  he  left  late  in  the  afternoon,  the  boat 
taking  him  to  the  reef,  where  we  could  see  him 
being  carried  over  it  on  a  native's  back.  There 
were  still  fifty  bags  of  copra  to  come  on  board; 
these  were  packed  out  to  the  boat  on  the  backs  of 
natives  and  our  black  boys.  Mr.  Henderson  gave 
Tin  Jack  two  black  pigs  and  a  very  fine,  handsome 
mat;  I  gave  him  a  supply  of  medicines  carefully 
labelled,  and  a  pillow  with  an  extra  case.  When  we 
left  we  blew  the  steam-whistle  in  farewell,  burned 
a  blue  light,  and  let  off  two  rockets,  to  which  he 
responded  with  a  rocket  from  the  shore.  One  of 
our  rockets  was  let  off  by  the  captain  (who  is 
quite  ill)  on  the  bridge.  It  shot  at  us  and  fire  was 
sputtering  all  about  the  bridge,  to  our  terror.  A 
woman  has  been  following  me  about  all  day  try- 
ing to  get  me  to  adopt  her  little  half-caste  boy. 
She  tried  to  bribe  me  with  a  mat,  which  in  the 
end  she  gave  me  as  a  present.  I  gave  her  a  bottle 
of  scent.  Everybody  bargaining  for  shells,  even 
the  black  boys  and  Mr.  Stoddard,  the  engineer. 
When  the  boat  returned  from  landing  Tin  Jack 
it  brought  me  from  him  an  immense  spear,  very 
old  and  curious.^ 

^  Tin  Jack  came  to  a  sad  end.  He  possessed  a  certain 
fixed  income,  which,  however,  was  not  large  enough 
for  Jack's  ideas,  so  he  spent  most  of  the  year  as  a 

[174] 


the    ^^ Janet    NichoT' 

()th. — Peru.  I  am  disgusted  by  the  apathy  of  our 
exiles.  Except  one  woman,  they  did  not  even  raise 
their  heads  to  look  on  their  native  land.  There 
was  no  excitement,  no  appearance  of  interest.  The 
Samoan  missionary  and  friends  of  his,  all  well- 
dressed,  superior-looking  people,  came  on  board. 
The  missionary  demanded,  in  a  high  and  mighty 
way,  that  paper,  and  envelopes,  and  pen  and  ink 
be  brought  him.  Lloyd  was  working  the  type- 
writer to  my  dictation,  which  amused  them  all 
extremely.  Mr.  Clark,  the  missionary  from  Samoa, 
has  just  been  here.  To  our  disappointment  we 
have  missed  him  by  only  twenty-four  hours.  He 

South  Sea  trader,  using  the  whole  of  his  year's  income 
in  one  wild  burst  of  dissipation  in  the  town  of  Sydney. 
One  of  his  favourite  amusements  was  to  hire  a  hansom 
cab  for  the  day,  put  the  driver  inside,  and  drive  the 
vehicle  himself,  calling  upon  various  passers-by  to 
join  him  at  the  nearest  public  house.  Some  years  ago 
when  Jack  was  at  his  station  he  received  word  that  his 
trustee,  who  was  in  charge  of  his  property,  had  levanted 
with  it  all.  Whereupon  poor  Jack  put  a  pistol  to  his 
head  and  blew  out  what  brains  he  possessed.  He  was  a 
beautiful  creature,  terribly  annoying  at  times,  but  with 
something  childlike  and  appealing — I  think  he  was 
close  to  what  the  Scotch  call  a  natural — that  made  one 
forgive  pranks  in  him  that  would  be  unforgivable  in 
others.  He  was  very  proud  of  being  the  original  of 
"Tommy  Hadden"  in  the  "Wrecker,"  and  carried  the 
book  wherever  he  went. 

[175I 


The    Cruise    of 

has  gone,  they  say,  to  Apemama,  to  try  and  per- 
suade the  King  to  allow  them  to  land  a  mission- 
ary. I  think  he  will  not  succeed.  The  King  fears 
the  power  missionaries  get  over  the  people.  The 
traders  have  also  been  on  board,  the  braggart 
Briggs  and  a  Mr.  Villiero  from  the  Argentine 
Republic.  Mr.  Villiero's  father  was  Italian,  his 
mother  Tyrolese.  He  seems  an  intelligent,  pleas- 
ant fellow,  and  I  talked  a  long  time  with  him.  A 
few  years  ago,  he  tells  me,  a  man  died  on  this 
island  who  was  once  secretary  to  Rajah  Brooke. 
He  asked  to  bring  his  wife  and  his  adopted  daugh- 
ter, a  half-caste  Tahitian  named  Prout,  to  see  me. 

I  was  talking  to  the  two  traders  to-da}^  when 
Briggs  said  that  he  used  to  carr}^  the  lepers  from 
Honolulu  to  Molokai.  "Did  he  know  Father 
Damien?"  I  asked.  After  much  searching  in  his 
memory,  at  last  he  said  he  did.  "A  Catholic  priest 
he  was,  who  seemed  to  be  all  right  when  I  knew 
him,  but  some  pretty  ugly  stories  have  come  out 
about  him  since  in  Honolulu,  I  understand."  I 
gave  them  Louis's  pamphlet  without  a  word  more. 

The  tides  very  low;  there  is  a  good  deal  of  copra 
here,  and  our  black  boys  worked  last  night  until 
two  in  the  morning,  and  to-night  they  expect  to  be 
up  still  later.  One  of  the  black  boys  is  ill  with  a 
sore  throat,  headache,  and  diarrhoea.  We  gave  him 

[176] 


the    ^  ^  J  ami    N  ichoV 

some  castor-oil  and  laudanum,  not  knowing  what 
else  to  do.  The  captain  very  weak,  indeed,  with  in- 
tense headache,  sickness,  and  an  intolerable  burn- 
ing in  his  stomach.  There  is  an  odd  dryness  of  his 
skin,  not  like  fever.  He  has  taken  no  nourishment 
but  barley-water  for  days.  Louis  is  better,  the 
haemorrhage  having  stopped. 

loth. — Still  lying  off  Peru.  Mr.  Hird  came  back 
yesterday  with  a  sickening  account  of  the  man 
Blanchard  who  was  supposed  to  be  impHcated  in 
what  was  called  "the  Jim  Byron  poisoning  case." 
Blanchard  has  contracted  some  terrible  disease 
which  makes  it  necessary  for  him  to  lift  up  his 
eyelids  with  his  fingers  when  he  wishes  to  look  at 
one,  and  has  swelled  his  nose  to  a  monstrous  size. 
Blanchard  is,  he  says,  an  American,  and  when  he 
first  met  the  man,  some  years  ago,  had  some  pre- 
tentions of  being  a  gentleman,  but  has  now  fallen 
to  a  state  of  degradation  that  is  horrible.  Blan- 
chard spoke  of  the  murder  and  confessed  that  he 
knew  it  was  to  be  done  and  that  he  was  there 
when  it  was  done. 

wth. — Still  at  Peru  at  ten  o'clock  P.  M.  Mr. 
Villiero  has  come  on  board  with  his  wife,  a  hand- 
some young  woman,  to  whom  I  gave  a  wreath, 
some  lollies  for  the  children  (all  adopted,  her  own 
being  dead),  and  a  piece  of  lace.  A  little  later  Mr. 


The    Cruise    of 

Hird  brought  in  several  traders  and  gave  them 
luncheon. 

Lifting  anchor. 

I2th. — Left  Peru  last  night,  arriving  at  Nou- 
kanau  this  morning.  We  carry  with  us  a  native 
man,  as  an  exile,  to  this  island.  The  Samoan  na- 
tive missionaries  told  their  people  that  for  certain 
crimes  it  was  allowable  to  kill  the  offender.  Such 
a  case  occurred,  and  the  guilt)^  person,  who  richly 
deserved  his  fate,  was  put  to  death.  Then  the  native 
missionaries  said  that  the  taking  of  Hfe  called  for 
capital  punishment.  Fortunately,  at  this  juncture, 
a  white  missionary  from  Samoa  appeared  in  the 
missionary  ship,  and  it  was  arranged  that  the 
avenger  be  exiled  for  an  indefinite  period.  As  this 
man  has  large  possessions  in  Noukanau,  it  is  to 
be  hoped  that  he  may  not  experience  much  dis- 
comfort. He  is  a  fine-looking,  respectable  man  of 
early  middle  age  and  had  his  family  with  him. 

The  ship  all  morning  has  been  filled  with  crowds 
of  natives  (among  them  the  inevitable  leper  with 
elephantiasis),  all  chattering  like  monkeys.  I  have 
bought  from  them  three  pronged  shark's-tooth 
spears,  one  for  a  striped  undershirt,  the  other  two 
for  a  couple  of  patterns  apiece  of  cotton  print.  I 
also  bought  a  mat  with  rows  of  openwork  run- 
ning through  it,  just  like  hemstitching,  and  for  a 

I  178] 


the    ^^  Janet    NichoT* 

florin  I  got  an  immense  necklace  of  human  teeth. 
A  little  while  ago,  in  some  of  these  islands,  espe- 
cially Maraki,  a  good  set  of  teeth  was  a  dangerous 
possession,  as  many  people  were  murdered  for 
them.  I  trust  mine  were  honestly  come  by — at  least 
taken  in  open  warfare. 

Last  evening  our  pigs  fought  like  dogs,  biting 
each  other  and  rushing  about  the  deck  like  mad. 
The  noise  they  made  was  more  like  barking  than 
grunting  or  squealing.  The  cook  has  cut  his  leg; 
Mr.  Hird  has  a  bad  cold;  the  engineer,  Mr.  Stod- 
dard, is  sneezing,  and  Louis  feels  as  though  he  had 
caught  the  cold  also;  the  captain  still  very  bad; 
he  caught  more  cold  last  night.  Lloyd's  wounds, 
from  the  reef  on  Tin  Jack's  island  much  better. 
I  bound  them  with  soap  and  sugar  first  and  then 
covered  them  with  iodoform. 

We  have  been  to  two  settlements  to-day  and 
are  now  returning  to  the  first.  At  the  second  Tom 
Day  came  on  board  and  had  a  meal;  also  Captain 
Smith.  Our  coal  is  very  low;  hardly  any  left,  in 
fact,  and  we  are  all  burning  with  curiosity  as  to 
where  we  are  going  next — to  the  Hebrides,  Fiji — 
or  perhaps  to  Brisbane.  Spent  the  evening  talking 
to  Tom  Day.  He  told  many  tales  of  Bishop  Patter- 
son and  of  hunts  for  necklace  teeth.  A  father  who 
has  good  teeth  often  leaves  them  as  a  heritage 

[179] 


The    Cruise    of 

to  his  children.  They  are  worth  a  great  deal — or 
were.  He  has  known  many  murders  for  teeth.  My 
necklace  seems  a  gruesome  possession. 

ilth. — Left  Noukanau  in  the  morning;  arrived 
at  Peru  at  eleven  o'clock;  left  at  one,  Monday 
morning,  for  Onoatoa.  Louis  had  a  long  talk  there 
with  Frank  Villiero.  Land  here  is  divided  into 
large  and  small  lots;  the  large,  one  and  a  half  acres, 
the  small,  half  an  acre.  There  are  never  any  smaller 
divisions.  A  large  lot  is  quite  enough  for  a  family 
to  live  on.  Some  great  families  own  many  lots  and 
have  picked  as  many  as  fifteen  hundred  nuts  in 
one  month.  Pieces  of  land  are  confiscated  for  theft, 
or  murder,  by  those  who  suffer  loss  through  the 
crime.  A  piece  of  land  so  taken  from  a  murderer 
can  be  regained  by  the  criminal  pouring  a  bottle 
of  oil  over  the  body  of  the  man  he  has  murdered. 
But  this  is  never  done  if  the  person  fined  bears 
malice  or  enmity  toward  the  dead  man.  The  is- 
land was  formerly  in  a  far  more  prosperous  state 
owing  to  the  fact  that  a  large  proportion  of  the 
inhabitants  were  then  kept  as  slaves. 

The  duties  of  the  "old  men"  (the  democratic 
islands  are  supposed  to  be  ruled  by  the  "old  men," 
who  meet  in  a  bod}^  to  make  laws)  are  really  the 
demarcation  and  recording  of  lands;  they  can  go 
back  for  generations  in  the  division  of  island  lands. 

[i8o] 


the    ^  ^  J  an  et    N  ichoV  ' 

The  population  of  Peru  is  about  twenty-five  hun- 
dred; the  police,  at  present,  number  about  one 
thousand  men  uniformed  in  blue  jumpers,  jean 
trousers,  and  a  wisp  of  red  on  the  arm.  There  are 
three  districts,  each  being  patrolled  at  night  by 
the  police,  who  call  the  roll  of  every  grown  per- 
son, and  must  be  answered.  The  fines  go  one  half 
to  the  teacher  (for  his  private  benefit)  one  fourth 
to  the  old  men,  one  fourth  to  the  police.  Villiero 
has  seen  a  policeman  receive  no  more  than  ten 
cocoanuts  for  a  whole  year's  work,  and  he  must 
find  his  own  uniform  of  which  he  is  not  proud. 
Every  portion  of  the  island  is  owned  and  the  de- 
marcations owned.  They  are  a  mean  lot  here;  their 
fights  mere  broils,  and  very  little  feeling  is  shown 
for  each  other.  A  canoe  drifted  away,  or  a  man 
dead,  is  almost  instantly  forgotten.  Little  or  no 
sour  toddy  is  drunk  since  the  missionaries  came. 
Mr.  Clark,  the  missionary  from  Samoa,  told  them 
that  on  Sundays  when  a  ship  came  up  to  the  island 
they  must  allow  a  couple  of  men  to  take  the  trader 
off;  formerly  these  boatmen  were  always  fined. 

Mr.  Villiero  brought  his  wife  and  adopted  daugh- 
ter. Miss  Prout,  to  see  me  in  the  afternoon.  It  was 
very  embarrassing,  for  they  came  laden  with  gifts, 
and  I  had  nothing  suitable  to  offer  in  return.  We 
had   an  adoption  ceremony  by  which   I  became 

[i8i] 


The    Cruise    of 

either  mother,  or  daughter,  to  Mrs.  Villiero,  no 
one  quite  knew  which,  not  even  her  husband.  Miss 
Mary  Prout  was  quite  the  "young  person,"  shy 
and  silent.  Both  were  well  dressed  and  wore  Euro- 
pean rings.  Mrs.  Villiero  makes  all  her  husband's 
clothes.  The  presents  consisted  of  a  little  full- 
rigged  ship  inside  a  bottle,  the  mouth  of  which  it 
could  not  pass.  Mr.  Villiero  was  three  weeks  in 
making  it,  working  all  the  time,  a  regular  sailor's 
present;  also  a  large,  fine  mat  with  a  deep  fringe 
of  red  wool,  in  very  bad  taste,  a  couple  of  plaited 
mats,  a  pair  of  shells,  and  an  immense  packet  of 
pandanus  sweetmeat.  When  we  met  Mrs.  Villiero 
she  threw  round  my  neck  a  string  of  porpoise 
teeth,  thick  and  long,  the  preliminary  to  adoption. 
With  Louis's  help,  Mr.  Villiero  made  his  will.  (He 
was  afterward  lost  in  a  labour  vessel — virtually  a 
slaver — that  sank  with  many  unfortunate  natives 
on  board  as  well.  It  was  on  the  way  to  South 
America.)  He  has  a  feeling  that  his  life  is  not  safe 
here  with  some  of  the  other  traders,  the  poisoners, 
in  fact.  He  told  Louis  of  an  unfortunate  affair  that 
happened  on  the  fourth  of  Julj^  Villiero,  Briggs, 
and  the  Chinese  trader  made  a  signed  bargain  that 
they  would  all  buy  copra  at  a  certain  fixed  price, 
with  a  fine  of  two  hundred  dollars  to  be  paid  by 
the  one  breaking  the  bargain.  Soon  all  the  custom 

[182] 


the    ^^ Janet   NichoT' 

had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Chinaman.  On 
inquiry  it  came  out  that  while  the  Chinaman  os- 
tensibly bought  at  the  agreed  price,  he  gave  a 
present  of  tobacco  besides,  thereby  evading  the 
letter  of  the  bargain.  Following  Briggs's  foolish 
advice,  the  other  traders  armed  themselves  to  the 
teeth  and  went  at  night  to  the  Chinaman's  house. 
Briggs  and  Blanchard  guarded  the  door,  while 
Villiero,  holding  a  pistol  to  the  Chinaman's  head, 
demanded  the  two  hundred  dollars  fine.  Of  course 
it  was  paid.  When  the  missionary  ship  came  in 
Villiero  told  this  tale  to  the  white  missionary  who 
advised  immediate  restitution  of  the  money,  and 
said  he  was  bound  to  report  the  traders'  conduct. 
I  wonder  that  a  man  of  Villiero's  intelligence 
should  have  been  led  by  a  person  like  Briggs. 

The  captain  is  very  weak,  but  Louis  better. 

14/A. — Onoatoa  Island. 

l$th, — At  Tamana  early  in  the  morning.  One  of 
our  passengers  taken  on  at  Tom  Day's  island  and 
introduced  by  Tom  as  "Captain  Thomas,  this  old 
Cinderella,"  went  on  shore  with  all  his  belongings. 
Another  passenger  whom  we  are  taking  to  Sydney 
made  me  a  native  drill  which  will  cut  through  the 
most  dehcate  shell,  or  through  the  iron  of  a  boiler, 
or  a  dish,  or  a  glass  tumbler.  I  made  holes  through 
some  red  and  white  bone  whist  counters  and  strung 

[183] 


The    Cruise    of 

them  Into  necklaces,  really  very  pretty.  Since  we 
were  at  Tamana  before  there  has  been  a  murder 
and  an  execution.  A  man  from  another  island,  in- 
dignant at  being  worsted  in  a  wrestling  match, 
watched  at  the  church  and  struck  a  spear  into  his 
victim,  who  soon  died.  The  execution  was  by  hang- 
ing. They  dragged  the  man  up  by  the  neck,  then 
let  him  down  to  see  if  he  was  dead,  then  pulled 
him  up  again  only  to  lower  him  for  another  look, 
continuing  this  barbarity  until  they  were  satisfied 
no  life  was  left  in  the  wretch. 

iGth, — Arorai  in  the  morning.  The  first  thing  we 
hear  is  that  poor  McKenzie,  the  man  who  was 
starving,  is  dead,  supposedly  from  a  surfeit  on  the 
soups  we  left  him.  He  ate  ravenously;  said  in  reply 
to  a  question  of  how  he  felt,  "I  feel  full,"  imme- 
diately became  insensible,  and  so  remained  for 
three  days,  when  he  died.  It  did  not  occur  to  me 
to  warn  him  against  overeating;  soup  seemed  such 
an  innocent  thing;  I  was  afraid  to  let  him  have 
solid  food  at  first. 

"Cockroach,"  one  of  our  black  boys,  has  got 
his  fingers  badly  crushed.  He  has  been  crjang  like 
a  child  ever  since.  The  captain  still  very  ill;  he  and 
I  went  through  two  medical  books  and  both  came 
to  the  conclusion  that  he  must  be  suffering  from 
inflammation  of  the  stomach.  He  says  he  has  been 

[184] 


the    ^^  Janet    NichoV^ 

worse  ever  since  one  day  when  three  black  boys 
refused  to  work  on  a  Sunday.  Sally  Day,  he  says, 
was  very  impudent,  and  he  was  too  weak  to  knock 
Sally  down,  which  fact  prej^s  on  his  spirits. 

To-day  one  of  the  boats  steered  by  Mr.  Hird 
suddenly  disappeared  in  the  surf,  and  Mr.  Hen- 
derson at  once  put  out  for  her.  She  had  capsized 
and  stove  a  small  hole  in  one  end.  Mr.  Hird  came 
dripping  from  his  involuntary  bath.  Fortunately, 

no  one  was  injured  but  the  engineer  and  Mr.  B 

(a  passenger  from  Jaluit)  and  they  only  in  their 
feelings.  They  were  waiting  a  long  way  down  the 
reef  when  the  accident  happened,  and  could  not 
get  another  boat  in  time  for  dinner.  We  killed  a 
pig  to-day,  the  first,  our  sheep  being  now  done. 
Charley,  passenger  from  Jaluit,  working  his  way, 
gave  me  a  belt  of  human  hair.  Some  natives 
brought  off  a  shark  they  had  just  killed,  hoping 
to  sell  it  to  us  for  food.  Mr.  Hird  told  a  story  of  a 
shark  he  had  seen  chasing  a  fish.  The  shark  could 
easily  catch  the  fish,  swimming  in  a  straight  line, 
but  could  not  turn  quickly,  so  the  fish  knowingly 
swam  round  and  round  him.  They  were  very  near 
the  ship  when  the  fish  jumped  out  of  the  water. 
With  the  quickness  of  lightning  the  shark  struck 
it  with  his  tail  straight  into  his  mouth.  There  is  a 
swordfish  here  with  a  snout  like  a  spear,  long  and 

[185] 


The    Cruise    of 


sharp,  which  follows  the  flying-fish.  When  the  na- 
tives are  fishing  they  have  to  be  on  the  lookout, 
as  he  jumps  at  them  and  tries  to  stab  them  with 
his  sword.  One  of  our  passengers  knew  a  man  who 
was  killed  by  such  a  stab.  I  forgot  to  mention 
that  Tom  Day  told  me  that  during  this  present 
epidemic  of  measles  he  saw  a  woman  buried  alive. 
**She  was  too  weak  to  resist,  so  her  husband  just 
buried  her";  the  same  sort  of  tale  as  Mr.  Hird's 
of  Penrhyn. 

lyth. — Had  a  sharp  squall  in  the  night.  Lloyd 
slept  through  it  all,  his  things  swimming  in  the 
water.  I  put  my  head  out  of  the  port  and  watched 
the  rain-drops  strike  the  sea,  each  producing  a 
spark  like  a  star.  It  looked  as  though  the  heavens 
were  reversed.  I  often  find  my  bath,  when  I  take 
it  after  dark,  blazing  like  liquid  fireworks.  The 
weather  continues  bad,  and  we  are  roUing  a  good 
deal.  Louis  much  better;  the  captain  very  weak 
and  ill.  Lloyd's  leg,  hurt  on  the  reef  at  Tin  Jack's 
island,  shows  uncomfortable  symptoms.  I  suppose 
I  should  burn  it  out,  but  it  requires  courage  to 
perform  that  operation. 

i8^A. — Arrived  at  Vanumea  at  ten  o'clock.  Left 
at  nightfall  under  sealed  orders,  steering  S.S.W. 

2^th. — First  thing  in  the  morning  sighted  Ero- 
mango  about  fifteen  miles  away,  and  a  little  later, 
[i86] 


the    ''^ Janet    NichoT^ 

Tanna.  Eromango  Is  the  place  where  the  mission- 
ary John  Williams  (always  spoken  of  as  "the 
martyr  Williams")  was  killed  by  the  natives. 

Some  time  ago  a  good  deal  of  amusement  was 
got  from  discussions  concerning  the  mango  and 
the  proper  way  to  eat  it.  Mr.  Stoddard  said  it 
should  be  eaten  with  a  spoon,  which  is  impossible. 
We  soon  discovered  that  he  had  confused  the 
mango  with  the  barbadine,  though  he  would  not 
confess  it.  One  evening  when  the  bread  was  under- 
baked I  pressed  the  crumb  into  the  semblance  of  a 
spoon  and  solemnly  presented  it  to  him  as  a 
"mango  spoon."  This  morning  I  found  a  large 
pumpkin  hanging  up  to  ripen.  I  borrowed  it  from 
the  cook,  and  Mr.  Hird  and  I  tied  it  up  in  an 
enormous  parcel,  while  Louis  wrote  out  a  card 
in  printing  letters  to  go  with  it. 

For  Walter  Stoddard  Esq., 
—  One  Mango  — 
With  the  fond  love  of  the 

inhabitants  of  Eromango. 

(This  is  gathered,  with  a  spoon,  from  the  finest 
mango  swamp  in  the  island.  But  beware  of  the 
fate  of  the  martyr  Williams,  who  died  from 
trying  to  eat  one  with  too  short  a  spoon. 
O  mango  and  do  likewise.) 

To  make  the  presentation  scene  more  impressive, 
I  made  a  pair  of  false  eyes  to  be  worn  like  spec- 

[187] 


The    Cruise    of 

tacles  by  hooking  wire  round  the  edges  of  a  very 
large  pair  of  green  cat's-eye  opercula,  which  Mr. 
Henderson  donned  at  the  appearance  of  the  pump- 
kin. The  parcel  was  brought  in  at  dinner  by  the 
chief  steward  with  the  assurance  that  it  had  come 
off  in  a  boat  from  Eromango,  sent  by  the  people 
of  the  island.  Anything  more  truly  diabolical  than 
the  expression  of  the  cat's-eyes  cannot  be  well 
conceived.  I  chose  very  clear,  dark  ones,  with  a 
well-marked  white  ring  on  one  side,  which  I  made 
the  upper,  so  that  the  eyes  were  apparently  start- 
ing from  their  sockets  with  fiendish  surprise  and 
malevolence. 

25/A. — Mare  Island,  Loyalty  group;  lay  off  the 
Sarcelle  passage  all  night,  about  forty-five  miles 
from  Noumea,  our  first  civilised  port  and  the  last 
we  shall  make  until  we  reach  the  end  of  our  cruise 
at  Sydney.  A  large,  most  strange,  and  picturesque 
island.  At  first  sight  it  seemed  only  desolate  clifi^s 
and  terraces.  Here  and  there  at  wide  intervals  a 
tree,  very  tall  and  close-growing,  stood  up  straight 
like  a  needle.  As  we  drew  nearer,  however,  en- 
chanting little  bays  began  to  open  up.  We  could 
make  out  groves  of  cocoa-palms  and  the  needle 
trees  clustered  together,  making  a  curious  edging 
to  the  cliffs.  In  one  of  these  bays  was  the  mission 
station;  we  could  see  the  white  wooden  house 

[188] 


the    ^  ^  J  an  et    N  ichoV  ^ 

smothered  in  trees,  the  plantation  of  palms  follow- 
ing the  indentations  of  the  shore-line,  and  stretch- 
ing far  back  to  the  white  and  coloured  cliffs  that 
ran  up  into  the  precipitous  hills.  In  a  niche  on  a 
clifF  side  was  a  great  statue  of  the  Virgin,  dazzling 
white  in  the  sun.  Before  the  mission  house  ran  a 
broad,  smooth  beach.  We  could  distinguish  many- 
people  standing  there,  and  a  fine  large  boat. 

26^A. — At  half  past  one,  Noumea.  A  succession 
of  the  most  lovely  bays  began  to  open  up  as  we 
steamed  nearer.  The  surf  runs  out  some  forty 
miles  and  is  studded  with  small  islands,  some  like 
little  hills  rising  from  the  sea,  and  some  miniature 
low  islands  fringed  with  cocoa-palms.  We  all  don 
the  clothes  of  civilisation  to  go  on  shore,  looking 
very  strange  to  each  other. 


[189] 


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